Mum's the word for marathoner Weightman
Published Sun 09 May 2021
Ask anyone in the world what the most difficult job is and one of the most common answers you will hear is: being a mum. Add in a corporate job and aspirations for a fourth Olympic Games and you've got the workload of Australian marathoner Lisa Weightman.
But since giving birth to her son Pete, now 6, Weightman has proven that motherhood is no barrier to achieving her sporting endeavours.
13 months after giving birth to Pete, Weightman qualified for the Rio Olympics at the Houston Marathon, and the following year, ran a swift 25:25:15 to become to the fourth fastest Australian female marathoner of all time.
Since then she's run at least one marathon a year, with a total of 17 now under her belt.
"One thing I've learnt since having Pete is that there's never time to waste." Weightman said.
"My life has been kind of hectic throughout my entire running career so I've just needed to adapt throughout the years to have that opportunity to run at the highest level. But similarly, it's a choice I've made. I find it a privilege really to have the opportunity and the skills and the support of my family to do all the crazy things I do, because they give me great personal satisfaction."
While balancing work, running and family has become second nature to Weightman and husband Lachlan, she says the key to success is understanding personal values and priorities.
"Pete is obviously number one and I will always put him and his needs first, no matter what. That's a no brainer, and he's doing great, but I've been able to do that because I've got such a supporting family," the Commonwealth Games silver medallist said.
"The professional career goals I have - there's a bit of career plateuing because I need to be quite flexible as a mum, and being able to travel and put in all the training.
"I'm not trying to push and progress at each of my three domains at the same time because that's when you get fatigued and stressed. Understanding your own goals and knowing where you're putting energy in is something I've had to learn over time but I've been fortunate that I've been working throughout my whole athletic career so I've been able to develop and strengthen that."
In between the hustle and bustle of life, Weightman still manages to run up 170km a week, but not without sticking to a tight schedule and relying on the support of her extended family.
"There's certainly lots of positives out of having such a small amount of spare time in our family because we probably spend a lot more time together than most families do because we're always supporting each other and looking after each other,” she said.
"My mum and dad are always around and helping with school pickups and taking Pete to sport, and we're always heading up to Ballarat to Lachlan's parent's place. Pete gets lots of time with their grandparents and us. It's nice to have that family unit, which is what Mother's Day is all about. Pete can say he’s kind of got a few mum's in their lives and pretty special ones too.”
But what she’s most looking forward to, is seeing Pete grasp the enormity of what it’s all for.
"When I went over to the Commonwealth Games in 2018, he wasn't quite old enough to understand what I do, but now he’s starting to understand a bit more about what the Olympics is all about,” she said.
“He is understanding the commitment, the racing and competitiveness and having a go. My nephew too, who is like a son to be as well, he’s seen how our family operates and he’s wanting to aspire to be a top athlete himself.”
While today is all about Weightman and other mother’s and caregivers across the world, this year’s Mother’s Day looks a bit different.
“This week we’re up in Cairns for our marathon camp. We have FaceTime so we’ve been able to chat on FaceTime every morning over breakfast and then in the evenings before bed, but I’ll be missing Mother’s Day this year.
“We got a family WhatsApp group going and I got a message that we’re going to postpone celebrations by a week so I don’t miss out.
“Instead I’ll be spending my day doing a two-hour run in the hot sun, probably not what most mother’s want to do on Mother’s Day morning, but I’m still looking forward to seeing Pete all fine and happy on FaceTime. It’s very special.”
By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 9/5/2021
