The Run With A Friend Challenge started this Saturday 4th July 2020. Run with A Friend aims to get kids out of the house and be active with a friend, family member or even pet. All you need to do is walk, run or roll a course of your choosing, with distances of 1K, 2K and 5K available.

Over the weekend Charlize Colwell travelled with her mum Crystal from Albion Park to Manly to complete a 5km run with Charlize’s friend Sybella. Sybella and Charlize are best friends who met through athletics, Charlize is a member of Albion Park Little Athletics Club, whilst Sybella competes with Manly Warringah. The young girls met at a school championship and have continued to grow their friendship at athletics carnivals over the years and are both celebrating their 13th birthday this month.

The girls customised their bibs with Charlize donning the number 37 and Yaya, whilst Sybella opted for number 12 and nickname Bella. The friends matched in Black Nike singlets as they ran down Manly promenade to complete 5km in 31 minutes!

Charlize’s Mum Crystal told Little Athletics NSW that Charlize started Little Athletics when her friend invited her to try out the sport,  and now Albion Park Little Athletics runs carnivals that are inclusive for para athletes, and Sybella travels down to compete with Charlize.

Their love for athletics has created a friendship between the two girls who support each other through all their sporting endeavours. The girls were meant to compete against each other at this season’s State Championships in the Girls U13-14 Multi-Class Discus and Shot Put but they have already competed against each other many times at Little Athletics and Senior Athletics events.

The girls not only share a love for athletics but also give back to the community both raising money for the 50K in May for the fight against MS. Charlize and Sybella both have big goals for the future, when named the October 2019 and December 2019 Cerebral Palsy Sporting And Recreation Association NSW Athlete of the month, both girls stated that they dream to represent Australia internationally wearing the green and gold. Along with this Charlize dreams of becoming a primary school teacher whilst Sybella wants to study exercise physiology and help other children who have cerebral palsy.

We would love to hear about your Run with A Friend Challenges, make sure to use the hashtag Run With A Friend when posting on social media!

Information Courtesy: https://www.cpsara.org.au/ and Crystal Woll