There is a diverse range of support on offer – including yoga, course familiarisation sessions and sports psychology – for participants preparing to lace up their shoes to tackle the Weipa Running Festival on 20 July. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
With just seven weeks to go until the starter’s pistol fires in the 2025 Weipa Running Festival (WRF), conquering the course on race day has been made just that little bit easier thanks to a range of activities designed to support participants.
From yoga and course familiarisation runs to sports psychology, event organisers have teamed up with local stakeholders to ensure runners are as prepared as they can be in the lead-up to 20 July.
“WRF has you covered from head to toe physically and mentally,” committee president Rose Robins explained.
“Participants can attend free yoga sessions, weekly Sunday social runs to familiarise themselves with different areas of the course, Thursday Rio Tinto Run Club, allied health sessions and a little RFDS mental health sports psychology.”
With registrations for this year’s festival approaching 250, Ms Robins said the range of pre-event options being offered added to the traditional preparation of pounding the pavement.
“Running on race day is the easy part,” she said.
“The challenge is often keeping the body together and healthy through the training blocks; the social component of group runs or parkrun can make all the difference to a challenging run, or the fight on hitting the snooze button.
“I’ve never met a runner that does enough stretching, so we are hoping the lure of the Kumrumja sunset can give their bodies some much needed love (at the yoga sessions).”
Ms Robins said she believed Weipa’s strong sporting credentials helped WRF numbers get bigger and bigger every year, and that the “easily measurable experience” of running made it popular with those with an affinity for numbers.
“Weipa has always had a strong sporting community, and we feel the consistency of parkrun and WRF over the past almost eight or nine years has enabled that real sense of community,” she said.
“Running can be such an easily measurable experience – 1 kilometre can turn into 5km, then 10km before you know it.
“Also, while not a seasonal sport, a shout out to those runners that continue throughout the summer months that motivate the rest of us.”
Yoga sessions for runners will be held on 15 June, 16 July and 27 July, and are free for all registered WRF participants and volunteers.
Group runs for course familiarisation kick off on 4 June for Global Running Day, and then every Sunday until the end of the month.
Check out the WRF Facebook page for the latest information about the sessions and registering for an event on race day.
