By Mikayla Van Loon
The Laser Run World Championships will see two of the Yarra Ranges’ finest athletes prepare to take on the global challenge and are heading over to the UK in just two weeks.
Mitch Pointon and Zoe Addinsall will be competing for Australia in the Under 15 and Under 17 categories from 19 to 21 August in Bath.
Having both travelled to Portugal last year for the World Championships, the pair have some idea of what the competition will be like but are ready to test themselves once again.
“There are a few other athletes in my age group going [from Australia] but the competition is going to be a lot different than the competition here, there’s not really many people that I compete against in my age group. So it’ll be good to actually compete against others,” Zoe said.
“There’s a new bunch of athletes from the younger age group who will be coming from the under 13s last year to under 15s whereas I’m in the older half of the age group this year,” Mitch said.
Aiming to improve on last year’s times, Zoe and Mitch are working towards those goals by training together and pushing each other to do better.
“Just to do better than I did last year. Last year I came sixth, so my plan is to come in the top three or top five,” Zoe said.
“I’d like to do a lot better than what I did last year and hopefully place better and get a better time than I did,” Mitch said.
Coming off the back of the Modern Pentathlon Australia Laser Run National Championships held in Sydney in June where the two were crowned as Under 17 Female and Under 15 Male Laser Run National Champions, Zoe and Mitch are in good positions heading into worlds.
Training under the esteemed Yarra Ranges Athletics coach Jamie Strudley, the pair have a daily schedule to stick to.
“On Monday, Jamie sets me a swim normally of 40 laps and then on Tuesdays, he sets me 12 400s,” Mitch said.
“Wednesday is normally just a medium long run, Thursday is normally 12 hill sprints. Friday is my day off, Saturday at the moment is one kilometre sprints with shooting every day and core every day.”
Based for the most part in Ballarat, Zoe also has a running coach in Rod Griffin who has been helping her improve through the athletics club.
Despite not always being able to train together, Mitch’s mum Jane said it doesn’t stop them from trying to outdo each other or discuss their sessions over the phone.
“They often link up or just talk on the phone because she’s based in Ballarat. When they can’t be together, they often just catch up to talk about their sessions,” she said.
“It does become a bit of a competition, which is fantastic because it’s only going to help both of them.”
Leaving on 15 August, Zoe and Mitch will continue their normal training program, with a few added sprinting and shooting exercises to ensure they have the stamina and accuracy needed.
“I’m feeling pretty good. It’s coming up very, very fast. So it’s kind of getting to me now that I’m all of a sudden going to compete at World Champs, but I’m really excited for the opportunity,” Zoe said.
