Johnson and Heart Foundation Trophy Recipients Janene Kingston ...

Page 16 — June 2013 VetrunnerAustralia’s 400m Hurdle ChampionThe daughter of an ACTVAC great taking on one WorldChampionship after anotherNeil and Kerry Boden have been valued members of ACTAthletics and the ACT Veterans Athletic Club for manyyears. Their contributions to the sport have been significantand over the last decade they have enjoyed bringing theirdaughter, Lauren Boden, into the fold.Some of you may remember little Lauren Boden runningaround the AIS track and playing on the pole vault matwith other Vets’ children, passing the time while theirparents participated in various events. Well Lauren is now24 years old and Australia’s 400m Hurdles Champion –athletic genes certainly run in the family and Lauren istaking it to the next level.Between returning from competition in Japan and beforeheading off to compete in Germany, Lauren kindly wrote anarticle on the history and highlights of her athletic career todate. I hope you enjoy reading about the outstandingachievements of the daughter of two of our members. Youcan keep up to date with all Lauren’s training and futureaccomplishments via her blog at http://laurenboden.com/(Written by the Editor)* * * * * * * *By Lauren BodenI started Little Athletics with Corroboree when I wasfive years old and stayed there for 10 years. Over that timeI participated in all of the events every Saturday morningand loved spending time with my friends. I particularlyliked the hurdle events as well as long jump and high jump.Throughout my years at Corroboree I never dreamt of beingan Olympian or even pursuing athletics as a career. Itwasn’t until I was 14 years old that I started training undercoach and Sydney 2000 Olympian Matt Beckenham (400mHurdles). Shortly after that I made my first ACT Team andthat is where everything started.After training with Matt for a while he recognised I wasfairly good at hurdling and decided to test me over somerandomly spaced hurdles. I seemed to pass the test and so Iran my first 400H race when I was 15 and loved it! Afterprogressing through the junior ranks I qualified for my firstAustralian team in 2005 where I went to the World YouthChampionships in Morocco for 400H and Long Jump. I rantwo PBs and won the silver medal in the 400H which wassuch an amazing experience!In 2006 I qualified for the Commonwealth Games inMelbourne for 400H as a 17-year-old. It was my first seniorAustralian team and a fantastic experience. It was amazingbeing on a team with so many accomplished athletes andrunning at the MCG in front of 50,000 people wasincredible. I missed the final by one spot which wasdisappointing but motivating at the same time. Later thatyear I went to the World Junior Championships in Beijingwhere I finished 12 th . I was disappointed with that resultbut Matt and I had focused my year on the CommonwealthGames.In 2007 I went to the World University Games inThailand where I competed in the Long Jump. I finishedsixth jumping 6.40m which is still my PB today. In 2008 Ihad a building year where Matt and I went through mystrengths and weaknesses as an athlete and worked onthose. In 2009 I went to the World University Games again,this time in Serbia for the 400H. I finished fifth which wasa pretty good result considering I had missed the team forthe World Championships and was in a bit of a badheadspace.2010 was a fantastic year; domestically I ran my firstsub-56sec 400H, won Nationals and qualified for theCommonwealth Games in India. I also ran my current PBof 55.25sec in Japan after Nationals, which was awesome!India was an interesting experience, competing in suchhumid conditions and living in a place so different toAustralia. I was so determined to win a medal at the gamesand was disappointed to finish fourth by a fairly smallmargin. I was really happy to make the final although Ihad my heart set on a medal. It was a difficult experiencebut one that provided plenty of motivation for the future.In 2011 I had another good year in Australia andqualified for the World Championships, which were inSouth Korea. It was the biggest competition I had been toat the time and I was so happy with my run in the heat. Imade the semi-finals andfinished in the top 20 in theworld. It was great exposure tobe with the best female 400hurdlers in the world and mademe aware of what it takes to bethe best.2012, being an Olympic year,possessed its own special buzz.I had never tried to make anOlympic Games team before2012 and so it was interestinghow much more intense eachcompetition was and howeveryone else reacted toperformances. Thankfully I ran0.05sec under the ‘A’ qualifierat the Sydney Track Classicand was announced on theOlympic Team in March. In