August 29, 2014
Go Getta Girls founder Colleen Gunn is confident the popular Kingaroy-based running club will keep on pounding the pavement in pink long after she leaves the area.
Colleen plans to move to the Sunshine Coast in December to re-join her husband Len who has taken up a new job with Origin Energy.
She’s only staying in Kingaroy at the moment to allow son Ethan to finish Year 12 without disruption.
Then it’s off …
“I’m going to enjoy just running along the beach,” she said.
The couple came to Kingaroy in 1997 when Ethan was just 12 days old. They have four children – Reece and Jarred (who are at uni in Brisbane), Ethan, and Rhiannon (who was born in Kingaroy).
Somewhere along the way of raising four children, Colleen also found the time to found the Go Getta Girls.
In September 2006, Colleen plucked up the courage to run in a half-marathon on the Gold Coast.
Talking afterwards with other young mums, Colleen told them “you could do it, too” and then offered a session to show people how to run.
That first session, held on September 14, was advertised in school newsletters and was open to men and women.
“I was really shocked when 10 women turned up,” Colleen said.
“The following week another one joined and there were 12 of us for the remainder of the year.”
The club then started to grow like topsy, especially after a club breakfast held at The Artist’s Cottage.
“We set a goal for the Brisbane 10k in the April,” Colleen said.
“We snowballed from there.”
In 2008, Colleen also introduced a fundraising component to the Go Getta Girls and the club secured their clubhouse, the former croquet club building in Memorial Park.
The club now has 50-plus active members.
“I don’t feel like I’m abandoning them,” Colleen said.
“It’s a strong entity and has strong backing from the women who will carry it on.
“I imagine it will change over time, but that’s fine.”
Colleen will be handing over her role as head coach to Peta Schloss but she won’t be completely severing her ties with Kingaroy.
“My idea is I would like to come over every few months and have a run with the girls. I have a lot of good friends in the group.”
Colleen believes one of the greatest achievements of the group so far has been becoming involved in the annual Mother’s Day Classic, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for cancer research.
“This was our third year. It has been a really big achievement for us,” she said.
The group has also been active with Relay For Life.
“When a couple of our members got breast cancer, that really brought it home for us,” she said.
Colleen’s enjoyed some thrills over her years with the Go Getta Girls – including when she was asked to pose for the front cover of the local phone book.
And in 2011, she was named the South Burnett Senior Sports Person on the Year in the Council’s annual Australia Day awards.
So is she going to start another running club over on the coast?
“I don’t have plans at the moment. I’m looking forward to letting go of some of the shackles … but I wouldn’t rule it out!”
