One Athletics Wollongong club member among the many we are proud of exemplifies a rather unique kind of courage.

Karlee Symonds, a Shoalhaven Heads product, is a severely vision-impaired T11 para athlete who prefers to compete in the 100m and 200m.

When competing in these events Karlee is blindfolded and runs with a guide runner who is coached in synchronising with her running style and must keep a certain pace with Karlee so as not to advantage her by pulling her along.

However being a mid 14-second 100m runner, the odds of that are remote.

Karlee is currently completing her HSC at Nowra High completing.

She took up athletics when she was 11, doing well at zone level as an able-bodied runner, but discontinued running in 2015.

Her new-found interest in athletics was primarily due to the encouragement of her PE teacher at school.

Her membership with Athletics Wollongong started in 2018, a move we greatly appreciate.

What is it that you most love about athletics?

"The thing I love most is the family that you gain. I have met so many incredible people through competing in athletics and they are all so accepting. Athletics has given me more confidence as I have been able to meet other athletes with vision impairment, as well as athletes with other disabilities.

I love how athletics provides me with a challenge, and I am able to continue to aim to improve my personal best performances.

What have been your career highlights?

My best performance was at the 2019 Canberra Track Classic where I achieved a PB and T11 open Australian record for the 100 with a time of 14.65.

My highlights for 2019-2020 include:

Third in the 100m at the Oceania Area championships, 4th in the 100m at the Australian All Schools and at the 2019 Australian Junior Champs I was 1st in the 100m, 200m and the 400m. I also competed in the Arafura Games in Darwin last year.

Who is your coach and what challenges do you face?

My coach is the NSW para athletics coach Matthew Rawlings. I have been training with him for about a year now. As he is located in Sydney, I train by correspondence and he sends me my sessions down.

My training schedule has been a bit off lately as I have been injured, but usually I will do around two track sessions and two or three gym sessions a week. Matt is also my guide runner and competes alongside me at competitions.

Some challenges I face in training include finding a guide runner and a flat surface to run on, especially when it is wet and the tracks are closed.

Do you have any athletics ambitions?

My ambitions for athletics are to represent Australia and compete at Paralympic, World Championships and Commonwealth Games! I would also love to inspire other vision-impaired athletes to take up the sport, as currently there are a low prevalence of T11 athletes in Australia.

I would also love to continue educating society on vision impairment, in the hopes of removing stereotypes and creating a sense of inclusiveness.

I am currently in the process of training and developing my skills to gain a guide dog. Being accepted for a guide dog is definitely one of my biggest goals this year.

Apart from your PE teacher and family, who else has inspired you in athletics?

Lex Gillette is definitely an athlete who inspires me. Lex holds the world record for the T11 men's long jump of 6.77m set in 2015. Lex is widely involved in educating the community on vision impairment and he is also a motivational speaker, which is something I would like to do.

Athletics Wollongong is an all-inclusive athletics club welcoming athletes of all ages and abilities to compete, enjoy and have fun in a family friendly environment. We would love to see any interested athletes who want to join and compete when the summer season starts later this year. We look forward to seeing how Karlee meets competition challenges she will face in the new season.

Future dates worth noting in 2020:

NSW Short Course Cross-Country is on Sunday, July 19 at Dapto.

NSW Cross-Country Championships are on Saturday, August 8, at Nowra.

NSW Cross-Country Relays are on Saturday, August 22, at Miranda Park.

AUS XC Champs are scheduled for early October with specific details coming soon as well as the selection criteria to make the NSW team.

The NSW All Schools Track and Field Championships are scheduled to run on September 24-27 at SOPAC.

The Australian All Schools Track and Field championships are scheduled for early December with more specific details coming soon.

www.athleticswollongong.org.au and on Facebook