THE last time Swansea-Belmont runner Angela Leadbeatter won an open NSW surf lifesaving title on her home beach, her son, Ty, was just two.
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Now a seven-time champion, the mother of three is feeling “extra nervous” as she tries to emulate her son’s maiden effort at the 2017 carnival at Blacksmiths Beach.
Ty claimed the under-11 boys’ one-kilometre beach run title last Friday when the state titles returned to Swansea-Belmont for the first time since 2010. Angela missed those titles while pregnant with son Luke, 6. Daughter Emerson, 8, also competed last week in the beach relay at the age titles.
Angela, 40, who now coaches Ty and a group of 50 young runners, will strive for an eighth overall and seventh straight NSW open 2km beach run crown on Friday at 5pm will a little added motivation.
“Ty loves coming to watch me race and I think I’ll probably have a big crew up there on Friday from my training squad, which makes me extra nervous because I’ll have to perform in front of the kids I train,” Leadbeatter said. “I’ll be there thinking ‘I can’t give up. I have to get on the pain train’. That is our team motto, and they will probably be yelling that at me.”
Leadbeatter, who won the 40-44 age group race on Wednesday at the Masters titles, will be one of the top local hopes at the open carnival from Friday to Sunday.
“It’s very exciting and it’s good for Swansea Belmont to have it out there,” she said. “I only had one experience with [winning state at home] so it definitely makes it a bit more motivating when I’m training on my own beach thinking it’s going to be up here, especially having the nippers training, it’s nice to go home to your own bed.”
Leadbeatter is hoping a minor injury setback will prove a blessing in disguise on Friday.
“I’ve changed my training up a bit this year,” she said.
“I haven’t done as much on the soft sand because I’ve had a sore Achilles.
“I’ve gone back to the track and done a lot of solo sessions, which I think makes me mentally tougher because I’m doing it by myself.
“I think I’ll be faster on the hard and it should be mainly hard on Friday.”
Leadbeatter said the success of Ty in the first edition of 1km beach runs in junior state titles was a boost.
“I was so happy for him and so happy for all the boys who did well in the under 11s,” she said.
“It was a great start and we're only going to build on it.
“I train a squad of about 50 kids in the winter for cross country and there's a lot of good runners in that.
“We only found out about a month ago that they were introducing the one-kilometre beach run at state. Next year we can build on it and get some really good points for our club.”
