December 23, 2013
Fitness instructor Dianne Brown – who recently launched a new children’s fitness business in Kingaroy – didn’t need to look far for sporting inspiration when she was growing up.
Her father is Australian long-distance running legend Ron Grant who in 1983 ran 13,383km around Australia in 217 days.
Starting in Brisbane, Ron ran solo to Townsville, Mt Isa, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, then back to Brisbane, covering more than 60km every day.
And Dianne’s mother Del is also a record-breaking long-distance runner.
Growing up, Dianne’s life revolved about her parent’s sports, often travelling with them as they competed around Australia or helping on the sidelines.
The Grants are well-known in the South Burnett as they lived in Nanango for many years. While here, they organised several running events, including a 330km Nanango five-day race and a 50km event through a local State Forest.
But Dianne, who grew up at Caboolture, had already left home when her parents moved to Nanango. Her first taste of living in the South Burnett came much later after she was married and decided to settle in Kingaroy.
And she’s loving it!
She also loves sport and she quickly noticed there was little to do “sports-wise” during the week for the South Burnett’s youngest residents.
So during school Term 4 this year she started Litlin Fitness, a fun exercise and fitness group for three to five-year-olds.
The group has been meeting at Kingaroy’s Memorial Park and the youngsters are working their way through eight different sports (in a mini-format, of course).
So far they’ve done basketball and hockey.
Dianne is a qualified group fitness instructor as well as a swimming coach, boxing instructor and, naturally enough, a running coach.
She teaches the children ball skills, bat-handling skills as well as teamwork and how to wait their turn.
Litlin Fitness only runs during school terms. When the classes resume on February 4, new sports will be on the agenda, including soccer, softball, athletics and cricket.
The group meets on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00am and is never cancelled as there is a wet weather venue on stand-by if needed.
Dianne seems to be getting as much out of the program as her young students.
“I am passionate about inspiring young children to try new activities,” she said.
“It’s awesome to see them growing and learning new skills. They learn so quickly!”
For more information about Litlin Fitness, call Dianne on 0412-025-290 or visit the Litlin Fitness website or Facebook page
