David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to offer my congratulations to a wonderful local Bean athlete, Allicia Heron. Allicia competed in the Asia and Oceania 24-hour running championships in Bangaluru, India—it's not all Birmingham! An ultramarathon event in an incredible temperature of 29 degrees and a whopping 90 per cent humidity, Allicia ran 211.8 kilometres. For those wondering: run to Goulburn via Braidwood and then head back to Parliament House, and then head up Mount Ainslie just to finish off, all while squeezing a sponge with ice-cold water over your head because it's so hot.

Lap after lap, Allicia was in the zone with the electric atmosphere in the stadium keeping her going. In these incredibly tough conditions, she didn't hit the wall until two hours to go, but she pushed through and won an individual bronze and Australian team gold. A simply awesome effort. I asked Allicia to share some of her thoughts on representing Australia, and she said: 'The feeling of representing your country is like no other. All those training and prior hours lead to this. I had to pinch myself a few times. But to be able to experience it with my newfound teammates was simply incredible. We were there for a purpose, and I was going to give it my all for 24 hours.' That she did. Thank you and congratulations.