Passion for outdoors keeps action man inside
university-of-waikato
Mon May 02 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Passion for outdoors keeps action man inside
Monday, 2 May 2011, 12:40 pm
Press Release: University of Waikato
Passion for outdoors keeps action man inside
As a three-year-old Jeremy Cronin was found on the roof of his house by his mother, looking towards the hills. Twenty years later he was running up and over them, completing his first Coast to Coast in what has become an obsession for endurance sport.
The University of Waikato graduate has just completed his Bachelor of Sport and Leisure Studies, completing self-directed study on something close to his heart ‘The psychological experiences of endurance athletes: The New Zealand case of Coast to Coast’.
“It’s just in my blood. I can’t sit still,” says Jeremy, who left Hillcrest High School as a fifth former and later went on to study sports science and outdoor recreation and leadership.
“I did my first Coast to Coast in 2009, and was the fifth youngest competitor. I trained like a Trojan and had thoughts of making the podium, I was pretty naïve.”
When he isn’t training for endurance events, or marathons Jeremy runs his own outdoor personal training and swim coaching business where he helps aspiring endurance athletes reach their goals.
“I’ve always believed the mind is your strongest tool and in the case of Coast to Coast it’s not about age, it’s about experience. My study basically supported what I’ve always believed.”
For someone at home outdoors, being stuck inside studying soon became a race to finish.
“I had to relate it to sport. So the final exam was the race and everything before was the training. The interest just took over and I’d just go.
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“Education has always been a challenge for me, that’s why finishing is a dream. From leaving school at fifteen, it’s a good taste in your mouth when you can say you’re going to be graduating.
“I do the conditioning coaching for the Hillcrest High School first XV and when I told the boys I got an A+ they were stoked as.
“Once you have those letters after your name it gives you some credibility as well.”
This month Jeremy and around 1500 other University of Waikato students will graduate from ceremonies in Tauranga and Hamilton.
ENDS
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