The shrill of Elsie Seriat’s whistle cuts through the pre-dawn stillness of her island community.

It signals the start of an interval training session for the 20 or so people who have gathered on the foreshore at Thursday Island (TI), a small island in the far northern waters of Australia.

As the group sets off together, some walk, some run, some shuffle.

With Elsie encouraging from the sidelines — “C’mon bala, you can do it! Keep pushing hard” — they dare not stop until her piercing whistle sounds again.

These are members of the TI Deadly Runners beginners’ group, who together are embarking on the road to positive change, one step at a time.

At first, the improvements are incremental, but the self pride is evident.

“Before, I couldn’t run for 10 metres. Now I can run a full kilometre without stopping,” said Carolyn, who has lost eight kilograms since starting with the Deadly Runners.

Today she has brought along her friend, who readily admits “running is not my thing”.

“The first whistle’s hell,” her friend laughed. “But the second whistle’s good because you get to walk again!”

But amid the laughter and mock protests, each runner has their own reason for being here, and everyone is pushing to their limits.

“For the majority of people who come here and choose to be a part of the program, 60 seconds of non-stop running is massive for them,” Elsie said.

“So you imagine me telling them they’ve all run three minutes, and you see how they celebrate, the joy and excitement.”

Source
ABC News