Jesse James proves that with a bit of hard work and a lot more heart you can achieve anything, as the cross country superstar prepares to take on the Combined High Schools Cross Country Nationals event this Saturday.
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“I am very proud of Jesse and how far he has come,” mother Kelly James said.
Jesse has lived with vision impairment and a brain injury since birth, though has time and again proven these are merely footnotes in his life.
The Moree Secondary College student first qualified at nationals level last year, when he was still a student at Moree Public School.
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“His father and I were cross country runners when we were younger, but we only made it as far as the regional levels. Jesse has come a lot further than us,” Ms James said.
Jesse will compete in the Australian Multi-Class Athletes division at Maleny in Queensland, and look to beat his previous placement of 12th.
“Because the course at Melaney cuts through the golf course and has many hills, Jesse has been training at the Moree Golf Course and our property at home,” Kelly said.
Jesse has been putting in close to an hour’s worth of training every day. It’s the kind of commitment and dedication that earned him a silver medal at the nationals qualifier.
“He loves running. His brothers and sisters are always trying to compete against him, and the only way they can win is if they cheat,” Kelly said.
Kelly admits that Jesse have his training tested, with a forecast for inclement weather on the weekend.
“It’s supposed to be raining Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It will also be 17 degrees with 18 kilometre winds.”
As part of the trip to Maleny, Jesse will also have a chance to visit the Australia Zoo with the rest of the runners.
“There will be an opening ceremony on Friday, the race on Saturday, a compulsory excursion to the zoo on Sunday, then relays and time trials and the closing ceremony on Monday,” Kelly said.