THE Bluff’s Alyssa Gass is a star on the rise in the running fraternity.
She started running in grade 1 with her dad and twin sister Jemimah.
“Dad would take us for runs along the road to the beaches and back and we loved it,” said Alyssa. This was no short jog either, measuring about 3km.
In grade 4 she and her sister decided to participate in the 800m trials at school and to their surprise, they claimed top honours. Thus, a love for competitive running was born. Along with competing at school, she is a member of Queensburgh Harriers Athletics Club.
Now in grade 7, Alyssa easily completes a 5km parkrun in about 21 minutes. The 13-year-old recently placed second in the 5km edition of the Totalsports Women’s Race on Sunday, 16 July.
“The race started quick but I soon found a good pace and just kept going. I didn’t even know I had come second until later.”
This was not her first success story, nor will it be her last. On Saturday, 22 April she was the first woman home in the 10km run category of the Tinman Tri Series and 12th overall in a time of 42.55 – nearly five minutes ahead of the second-placed woman.
She trains with her dad and sister about six or seven times a week and they are up at about 4.30am daily to get training in before school.
Alyssa, who attends Penzance Primary School, is also a keen swimmer and both she and her twin are on the school swim squad. They often run together and insist on crossing the finish line of races as a pair, arm in arm. But she is not just an athlete, but an ardent fan of maths too.
Her family are all proud of her success and eagerly support her as her number one fans. “I want to do the Comrades as soon as I am old enough. I love running and I plan on competing in more and more races.”
READ ALSO: 81-year-old Bluff Comrades runner loves what she does
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