Friends of Sport & Spinal: Introducing Kelly-Ann Varey

Sport & Spinal Physiotherapy are proud to introduce you to Kelly-Ann Varey, one of our valued and inspirational clients. Kelly recently won the 2015 Canberra Women’s 50km Ultra-Marathon in a stunning time and has now qualified for the 2015 World 50 Km Championships in Doha, Qatar. It’s a fantastic achievement for this 36yr old wife and mother of two, who only began running just a few years ago.

I went from saying I couldn’t possibly run in a race to I suppose I could give it a try….

 

In 2011, Kelly’s running journey began almost by accident after moving to Canberra from Perth.

After moving from Perth to the ACT I found I wasn’t enjoying my daily walks in the cooler Canberra weather and so begun to go for small jogs instead.

It was these small jogs around the neighbourhood that gradually built up to dedicated runs.

In May 2012, Kelly set herself her first goal of running the 10km Mother’s Day Classic. Kelly enjoyed the race so much, she was hooked on running and started setting her sights on longer races, much longer races. This meant setting goals and gradually achieving those goals in a rather short amount of time.

I wanted to run. I wanted to be the best version of myself, make my family proud and see myself knocking down my goals.

Since the 2012 10km Mother’s day Classic, Kelly set herself the goal of running a few half-marathons and eventually she started looking towards running her first Canberra Marathon in 2014.

I started training for my first marathon in late 2013 still not sure if I could actually do it.

Kelly not only was able to run the marathon distance but she achieved an incredible 5th place. Since then, she has never looked back.

Kelly’s next challenge was the Hawaiin Marathon in 2014 where she achieved a 3rd place in her age category and 123rd place overall with a time of 3hrs and 7 minutes. Back home, Kelly’s other achievements in 2014 included a 2nd place in the Lightning Strike Stromlo 30km (2.31) and 1st place and course record Husky Half-Marathon (1.24).

So far this year has proved to be a very big year for Kelly as she continues to knock down her goals in a convincing fashion. In the few short months of 2015, Kelly has achieved 3rd place in the Weston Creek Half Marathon (1.24), 1st place at the Sri Chinmoy 10km (.39) and 1st place in the Wangaratta Marathon setting a course record of 3hrs and 2 minutes.

However, Kelly’s penultimate achievement this year was winning the Canberra Women’s 50km Ultra-Marathon in a blistering time of 3hrs and 31min, more than 9 minutes ahead of her closest female competitor. Much to her delight, as well as for her family and friends, Kelly now qualifies to compete at the 2015 World 50 Km Championships in Doha, Qatar later this year.

With the support of my wonderful husband and kids, a terrific coach and the help of an amazing physiotherapist at Sport & Spinal Physiotherapy, I’ve now got my eye on taking out the World 50 Km Championship in Doha in late 2015. I’m aiming to make not just my family proud but my country; a couple of years ago I would never have imagined saying those words but running has opened up a world of opportunity for me and I want to go as far as I can, as fast as I can.

Sport & Spinal Physiotherapy are proud to continue to support Kelly and in recognition of her recent achievements, we would love to offer her a complete physiotherapist Running Assessment and Report, absolutely Free.

We wish her all the best in her future endeavours and look forward to hearing about her achievements when she visits us at the clinic next time.