Alessandra Macdonald | Sport

My name is Alessandra Macdonald and I am a competitive athlete in athletics. I am currently studying computer science at the University of Waikato.

I love giving things ago and over my life have taken part in as many sports and extracurricular activities as my time table would allow. I am passionate about athletics but also play netball over the winter. I went to Fairfield college which I loved every minute of, apart from the level 3 bio exam (sorry Mrs Rodgers).

It took me four years of training to gain my first New Zealand medal, and it is the one that I am most proud of. I spent four year not sure if I would go anywhere, but I stuck with it and am now competing at a level I never thought would be possible. I enjoy the fact that to be successful you have to put in a little every day. It’s not always about how hard you train but how consistent you are at getting the work done. I often tell myself that anyone can go and run when they feel like it, it’s running when you don’t feel like it that splits the champions from the competitors.

However, the thing I love the most about athletics is the race. I love the unknown about racing. The fact that when the gun goes anything can happen, and all you have is your legs, your mind and your shoes to keep pushing through. It’s as much a mental race as a physical race. Then when you finish, that overwhelming exhaustion, sense of accomplishment, and if you’re lucky a time that you were never quite sure you could actually run, make it worth it. I love seeing how far I can push myself, then pushing that little bit harder.