SHE may be getting married this weekend but Canberra sprinter Lauren Boden was never going to let the minor matter of a wedding get in the way of her preparations for the upcoming athletics season.
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The London Olympian will be looking to kick off her 2013/14 athletics season at the Queanbeyan Gift later this month but will first tie the knot with fiancé Heath in Canberra on Saturday.
With wedding bells just around the corner, Boden admitted that the past eight weeks since returning from the IAAF World Championships in Moscow had been, quite understandably, “pretty crazy”.
But the 25-year-old said she’d managed to keep her pre-season preparation on track as she looks to begin her final build up toward next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
“It’s definitely been a collaborative effort to get everything ready,” she said of maintaining an elite training schedule while planning her wedding.
“I’m fortunate that [Heath] is a former world champion softballer so he understands the sacrifices involved in being an elite athlete.
“I’ve always said training is my time away from the rest of life. When you’re lying on the ground with legs full of lactic [acid] you’re not thinking much about weddings.”
Boden has a long history with the Queanbeyan Gift, winning the novice event in 2006 before claiming the main event in 2008 – her first major Gift victory.
This year has seen the Canberra girl named as one of four Queanbeyan Gift ambassadors alongside fellow London Olympian Mel Breen and Paralympians Evan O’Hanlon and Scott Reardon.
“I think I’ve only missed [the Gift] once since 2008 and it’s always a great carnival to compete in,” Boden said.
“Queanbeyan has taken a lot of pride, especially in the last couple of years, in making it one of the best carnivals on the Athletics NSW calendar and…everyone wants to run here. That’s why there’s so much prize money on offer.”
With a total prize pool of $16,000 on offer including $10,000 to the winner, the Queanbeyan Gift has this year maintained its status as the richest Women’s Gift race in Australia.
Longer term, Boden said the Gift would be the launching pad for her upcoming domestic campaign that will culminate in next year’s National Championships in April.
From there, Australia’s track team to compete at the Commonwealth Games will be selected.
But even at this early stage of the season, Boden said she was confident that she already had one hand on a ticket to Glasgow.
“My parents and my husband to be have already booked flights [to Scotland] so I’m quite confident [of selection],” she said.
“Selection for the Commonwealth Games isn’t as tough as the Olympics or a World Championships.
“Hopefully that means I’ll be able to keep up a heavy training load without having to focus too much on running times as I should be able to run [the qualifying time] comfortably.”
This year’s Queanbeyan Gift will be held at Queanbeyan Town Park on November 23-24.
This year’s Queanbeyan Gift will be held at Queanbeyan Town Park on November 23-24.