A month out from their debut marathon, 11 young indigenous runners have been chosen to represent Australia at the prestigious New York City Marathon.

The runners were short listed during a national try outs tour for Rob de Castella’s Indigenous Marathon Project six months ago.

Training has been interesting for the group with Arian Pearson, of Yirrkala in East Arnhem Land avoiding the threat of crocodiles that patrol the beach on his favourite route, while Bianca Graham from Weipa, a community that is inaccessible by road during the wet season in Far North Queensland, has substituted hill training with step ups on a disused truck tyre.

2011 New York City Marathon Indigenous Teams:

Men:
Caine Schofield - Sunbury, VIC
Patrick Keain - Cooper Pedy, SA
Kiwa Schilling - Kanmantoo, SA
Reggie Smith - Alice Springs, NT
Arian Pearson - Yirrkala, NT
Nathan Sutherland - Orange, NSW

Michael Purcell - Charleville, QLD

Women:
Sam Shepherd - Karratha, WA
Bianca Graham - Weipa, QLD
Nadine Hunt - Cairns, QLD

Bridgette Williams - Mt Gravatt, QLD

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