SHE has run the streets of Sutherland Shire more times than she can remember but when Eloise Wellings pounds the pavement at Sunday's Sutherland 2 Surf it will take on extra significance.
Wellings, 32, of Cronulla, has run the race a number of times but this will be the first time she has competed to win.
Wellings, a three-time Commonwealth Games athlete, is using her home event as vital preparation for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August.
With her 5000-metre world championship event on the horizon, she is looking forward to testing herself amid familiar surroundings.
"Most of my running routes go down the Kingsway, then to Cronulla on the way to Wanda Surf Club. Almost every run I do goes that way," she said.
"I pass so many places where significant things have happened in my life.
"We basically start at the personal training studio my brother and I used to own, heading down to Gymea. Then you get to Sutherland Hospital where I had my little girl.
"I train at Woolooware hockey fields all the time and it's nice to pass there. It brings happy vibes amongst the pain."
Wellings has already had a successful year, taking out the Sydney Morning Herald half-marathon in May and the Gold Coast half-marathon last weekend.
She said she had already set herself a goal for the world championships but hoped there was even more in store. "I'd love to make the final," she said.
"After that [I want to] just run as hard as I can in the final. You can never put limits on yourself I guess."
Also running Sunday is Wellings' friend and co-founder of the Love Mercy foundation Julius Achon.
The Ugandan dual Olympian will share his story at Wanda Surf Club tonight, July 16, from 7pm.
