The Reading / Listening - Running Marathons - Level 3

Many people would struggle to run just one marathon. They would need months of training to get into shape to last the 42.195-km distance. However, marathons are no problem for Australian runner Erchana Murray-Bartlett. She has just run 150 of them – every day for 150 days. The 32-year-old ran 6,329 km from Queensland, at the top of Australia, to Melbourne, at the bottom. Her five-month coast-to-coast run set a new world record. It's the most consecutive daily marathons ever run by a woman. She smashed the previous record of 106 marathons in 106 days. Ms Murray-Bartlett is a professional runner. She missed out on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, so she set her sights on a record-breaking challenge.

Murray-Bartlett embarked on her marathon number of marathons to raise awareness of the extinction crisis in Australia. Many species of animals and plants are dying out in her country. Australia is rich in biodiversity, but has the worst rate of mammal loss of any country. Her run has raised $70,000 for the conservation charity the Wilderness Society. She said it was an incredibly tough five months, but she knew she could do it. She said: "Even though sometimes you are covered in sweat and flies, and everything ached, I thought: 'No, I can go one more kilometre' or: 'No, I can go 500 more metres'. If you keep stringing together little tiny goals, you can make it." This is a lesson for us all.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

    Running Marathons - Level 0,  Running Marathons - Level 1   or  Running Marathons - Level 2

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-64286469
  • https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/i-m-so-stoked-woman-wraps-up-150-marathons-in-150-days-with-tan-track-dash-20230116-p5ccul.html
  • https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-17/erchana-murraybartlett-runs-150-marathons-in-a-row-breaks-record/101861080


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. MARATHONS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about marathons. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
       struggle / marathon / training / shape / distance / runner / coast / record / Olympics /
       awareness / extinction / crisis / species / biodiversity / charity / sweat / flies / goals
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. RUNNERS: Students A strongly believe governments should all make us into runners; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. GOALS: What are your goals regarding these things? Will you achieve them? Complete this table and share what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners often.

 

Goal?

Achieve?

English

 

 

Fitness

 

 

Food

 

 

Hobby

 

 

Environment

 

 

Friends

 

 
MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

5. RECORD: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "record". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. TOUGH: Rank these with your partner. Put the toughest things at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

  • 150 marathons
  • Climbing Everest
  • Fluency in English
  • Dieting
  • Finding true love
  • Stopping climate change
  • Becoming a billionaire
  • Less smartphone use

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1. struggle a. All the way across an island, and island nation or a continent.
      2. get into shape b. Created.
      3. distance c. Try very hard to do something very difficult.
      4. coast-to-coast d. Existing or happening before something else in time or order.
      5. set e. Do exercise to be fit and healthy enough for something.
      6. consecutive f. How far something is between A and B.
      7. previous g. Following each other continuously.

    Paragraph 2

      8. awareness h. The water that comes from your skin when you exercise, are hot, or have a fever.
      9. extinction i. Knowledge or understanding of a situation or fact.
      10. crisis j. The action of a group of animals or plants having no living members on Earth; dying out.
      11. species k. The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular area.
      12. biodiversity l. A group of living things that are able to have babies together, or reproduce.
      13. tough m. A time of intense difficulty or danger.
      14. sweat n. Very difficult or painful to do.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. Many people said they struggled when they ran a marathon.     T / F
  2. A marathon is 42.159 km in length.     T / F
  3. A woman ran from the north of Australia to the south.     T / F
  4. The woman represented Australia in the Tokyo Olympics.     T / F
  5. The woman ran to highlight species extinction in Australia.     T / F
  6. The woman raised $70,000 for a conservation charity.     T / F
  7. The woman said she was covered in sweets and fries.     T / F
  8. The woman suggested people could do things if they set small goals.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. struggle
  2. get into shape
  3. set
  4. previous
  5. set one's sights on
  6. raise
  7. crisis
  8. loss
  9. tough
  10. ached
  1. target
  2. create
  3. death
  4. increase
  5. battle
  6. earlier
  7. was sore
  8. get fit
  9. emergency
  10. difficult

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. Many people would struggle to
  2. need months of training to get
  3. Her five-month
  4. She missed out on qualifying
  5. set her sights
  6. raise awareness of
  7. Many species of animals and
  8. Australia is rich
  9. She said it was an incredibly
  10. This is a lesson
  1. tough five months
  2. coast-to-coast run
  3. on a record-breaking challenge
  4. plants are dying out
  5. the extinction crisis
  6. for us all
  7. run just one marathon
  8. for the Tokyo Olympics
  9. in biodiversity
  10. into shape

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
sights
shape
bottom
consecutive
struggle
previous
distance
coast

Many people would (1) _____________________ to run just one marathon. They would need months of training to get into (2) ____________________ to last the 42.195-km (3) _____________________. However, marathons are no problem for Australian runner Erchana Murray-Bartlett. She has just run 150 of them - every day for 150 days. The 32-year-old ran 6,329 km from Queensland, at the top of Australia, to Melbourne, at the (4) _____________________. Her five-month coast-to- (5) _____________________ run set a new world record. It's the most (6) _____________________ daily marathons ever run by a woman. She smashed the (7) _____________________ record of 106 marathons in 106 days. Ms Murray-Bartlett is a professional runner. She missed out on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, so she set her (8) _____________________ on a record-breaking challenge.

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.
sweat
embarked
ached
lesson
biodiversity
crisis
goals
charity

Murray-Bartlett (9) _____________________ on her marathon number of marathons to raise awareness of the extinction (10) _____________________ in Australia. Many species of animals and plants are dying out in her country. Australia is rich in (11) _____________________, but has the worst rate of mammal loss of any country. Her run has raised $70,000 for the conservation (12) _____________________ the Wilderness Society. She said it was an incredibly tough five months, but she knew she could do it. She said: "Even though sometimes you are covered in (13) _____________________ and flies, and everything (14) _____________________, I thought: 'No, I can go one more kilometre' or: 'No, I can go 500 more metres'. If you keep stringing together little tiny (15) _____________________, you can make it." This is a (16) _____________________ for us all.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) They would need months of training to ______
     a.  get onto shape
     b.  get in two shapes
     c.  get into shape
     d.  get unto shaped
2) ran 6,329 km from Queensland, at the top of Australia, to Melbourne, ______
     a.  at a bottom
     b.  ant the bottom
     c.  at the bottom
     d.  art the bottom
3)  the most consecutive daily marathons ever run by a woman. She smashed ______
     a.  the previous record
     b.  the previously record
     c.  the impervious record
     d.  the perilous record
4)  Ms Murray-Bartlett is a professional runner. She missed ______
     a.  out ton qualifying
     b.  out tone qualifying
     c.  are ton qualifying
     d.  out on qualifying
5)  for the Tokyo Olympics, so she set her sights on a ______
     a.  record-break-in challenge
     b.  record-braking challenge
     c.  record-break king challenge
     d.  record-breaking challenge

6) embarked on her marathon number of marathons to raise awareness of ______
     a.  the extension crisis
     b.  the extinct shun cry sis
     c.  the extinction crisis
     d.  the ex tincture crisis
7)  Australia is rich in biodiversity, but has the worst rate ______
     a.  of mammal lost
     b.  of mammal loss
     c.  off mammal loss
     d.  of mama loss
8)  Her run has raised $70,000 for ______
     a.  the conversation charity
     b.  the consternation charity
     c.  the constipation charity
     d.  the conservation charity
9)  sometimes you are covered in sweat and flies, ______
     a.  and everything arched
     b.  and everything caked
     c.  and everything ached
     d.  and everything eight
10)  If you keep stringing together little tiny goals, you ______
     a.  can make it
     b.  can may kit
     c.  can make kit
     d.  can my kit

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Many people would (1) ____________________ just one marathon. They would need months of training to get into (2) ____________________ the 42.195-km distance. However, marathons are (3) ____________________ Australian runner Erchana Murray-Bartlett. She has just run 150 of them - every day for 150 days. The 32-year-old ran 6,329 km from Queensland, at the top of Australia, to Melbourne, at the bottom. Her five-month (4) ____________________ set a new world record. It's the most consecutive daily marathons ever run by a woman. She smashed the previous record of 106 marathons in 106 days. Ms Murray-Bartlett is a professional runner. She missed (5) ____________________ for the Tokyo Olympics, so she (6) ____________________ on a record-breaking challenge.

Murray-Bartlett (7) ____________________ marathon number of marathons to raise awareness of the (8) ____________________ Australia. Many species of animals and plants are dying out in her country. Australia is rich in biodiversity, but has the worst rate of (9) ____________________ any country. Her run has raised $70,000 for the conservation charity the Wilderness Society. She said it was (10) ____________________ five months, but she knew she could do it. She said: "Even though sometimes you are (11) ____________________ and flies, and everything ached, I thought: 'No, I can go one more kilometre' or: 'No, I can go 500 more metres'. If you keep stringing together (12) ____________________, you can make it." This is a lesson for us all.

Comprehension questions

  1. What does the article say many people would struggle to do?
  2. What's the distance of a marathon?
  3. How far did Erchana Murray-Bartlett run?
  4. What was the previous record for consecutive daily marathons?
  5. What did Ms Murray-Bartlett miss out on qualifying for?
  6. What did Ms Murray-Bartlett run to raise awareness of?
  7. What did Ms Murray-Bartlett say Australia is rich in?
  8. How much money did Ms Murray-Bartlett raise for a charity?
  9. What did Ms Murray-Bartlett say she was covered in?
  10. What did Ms Murray-Bartlett say she kept stringing together?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What does the article say many people would struggle to do?
a) last the distance
b) run 150 marathons
c) run just one marathon
d) stay in shape
2) What's the distance of a marathon?
a) 42.195 km
b) 42.915 km
c) 42.591 km
d) 42.951 km
3) How far did Erchana Murray-Bartlett run?
a) 6,239 km
b) 6,329 km
c) 6,392 km
d) 6,293 km
4) What was the previous record for consecutive daily marathons?
a) 108 marathons
b) 100 marathons
c) 116 marathons
d) 106 marathons
5) What did Ms Murray-Bartlett miss out on qualifying for?
a) a gym membership
b) sponsorship
c) the Tokyo Olympics
d) the Melbourne Marathon

6) What did Ms Murray-Bartlett run to raise awareness of?
a) the health benefits of jogging
b) the extinction crisis
c) koalas
d) the coast
7) What did Ms Murray-Bartlett say Australia is rich in?
a) minerals
b) kangaroos
c) resources
d) biodiversity
8) How much money did Ms Murray-Bartlett raise for a charity?
a) $77,000
b) $70,000
c) $170,000
d) $17,000
9) What did Ms Murray-Bartlett say she was covered in?
a) sweets and flies
b) sweat and flies
c) sweat and files
d) sweets and fries
10) What did Ms Murray-Bartlett say she kept stringing together?
a) little tiny goals
b) little tinny goals
c) little tiny goats
d) little tiny foals

Role play

Role  A – 150 Marathons
You think doing 150 marathons is the toughest thing. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as tough. Also, tell the others which is the easiest of these (and why): fluency in English, finding true love or less smartphone use.

Role  B – Fluency in English
You think fluency in English is the toughest thing. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as tough. Also, tell the others which is the easiest of these (and why): 150 marathons, finding true love or less smartphone use.

Role  C – Finding True Love
You think finding true love is the toughest thing. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as tough. Also, tell the others which is the easiest of these (and why): fluency in English, 150 marathons or less smartphone use.

Role  D – Less Smartphone Use
You think less smartphone use is the toughest thing. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't as tough. Also, tell the others which is the easiest of these (and why): fluency in English, finding true love or 150 marathons.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'marathon'

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • and 'runner'.

  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________
  • ________________

    • • Share your findings with your partners.

    • Make questions using the words you found.

    • Ask your partner / group your questions.

    2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

    •Share your questions with other classmates / groups. •Ask your partner / group your questions.

    3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

    4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

    5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

    • just
    • problem
    • top
    • coast
    • previous
    • Tokyo
    • crisis
    • dying
    • raised
    • five
    • covered
    • little

    Student survey

    Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

    (Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

    Discussion - Running Marathons

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    1. What did you think when you read the headline?
    2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'marathon'?
    3. What do you think of marathons?
    4. What do you think of the record 150 marathons?
    5. Would you like to run marathons?
    6. How healthy is running for the body and mind?
    7. Should schools get all children to run regularly?
    8. What are the good and bad things about running?
    9. Do you think professional runners have a good life?
    10. What advice do you have for Ms Murray-Bartlett?

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
    2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'runner'?
    3. What do you think about what you read?
    4. What do you think of running?
    5. What issues would you like to raise awareness of?
    6. What do you think of the extinction crisis?
    7. What tough things have you done in your life?
    8. When was the last time you were covered in sweat?
    9. What tiny goals do you have?
    10. What questions would you like to ask Ms Murray-Bartlett?

    Discussion — Write your own questions

    STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

    (a) ________________

    (b) ________________

    (c) ________________

    (d) ________________

    (e) ________________

    STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

    (f) ________________

    (g) ________________

    (h) ________________

    (i) ________________

    (j) ________________

    Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

    Many people would (1) ____ to run just one marathon. They would need months of training to get into shape to last the 42.195-km distance. However, marathons are (2) ____ problem for Australian runner Erchana Murray-Bartlett. She has just run 150 of them - every day for 150 days. The 32-year-old ran 6,329 km from Queensland, at the (3) ____ of Australia, to Melbourne, at the bottom. Her five-month coast-to-coast run (4) ____ a new world record. It's the most consecutive daily marathons ever run by a woman. She (5) ____ the previous record of 106 marathons in 106 days. Ms Murray-Bartlett is a professional runner. She missed out on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, so she set her (6) ____ on a record-breaking challenge.

    Murray-Bartlett embarked (7) ____ her marathon number of marathons to raise awareness of the extinction crisis in Australia. Many species of animals and plants are (8) ____ out in her country. Australia is rich in biodiversity, but has the worst rate of mammal (9) ____ of any country. Her run has raised $70,000 for the conservation charity the Wilderness Society. She said it was an incredibly (10) ____ five months, but she knew she could do it. She said: "Even though sometimes you are covered in (11) ____ and flies, and everything ached, I thought: 'No, I can go one more kilometre' or: 'No, I can go 500 more metres'. If you keep stringing together little tiny goals, you can make it." This is a lesson for (12) ____ all.

    Which of these words go in the above text?

    1. (a)     straggler     (b)     snuggle     (c)     struggle     (d)     strangle    
    2. (a)     no     (b)     now     (c)     non     (d)     not    
    3. (a)     top     (b)     high     (c)     above     (d)     end    
    4. (a)     set     (b)     met     (c)     let     (d)     get    
    5. (a)     meshed     (b)     mushed     (c)     mashed     (d)     smashed    
    6. (a)     sites     (b)     sates     (c)     sits     (d)     sights    
    7. (a)     on     (b)     in     (c)     at     (d)     of    
    8. (a)     doling     (b)     drying     (c)     dealing     (d)     dying    
    9. (a)     loss     (b)     loser     (c)     lost     (d)     lose    
    10. (a)     bough     (b)     tough     (c)     though     (d)     cough    
    11. (a)     sweet     (b)     sweat     (c)     swat     (d)     swift    
    12. (a)     us     (b)     they     (c)     them     (d)     we

    Spelling

    Paragraph 1

    1. people would glesgurt to run
    2. last the 42.195-km ecasintd
    3. the most soeuncctiev daily marathons
    4. She smashed the eouvirsp record of 106 marathons
    5. iuianlfqgy for the Tokyo Olympics
    6. a record-breaking glaelehcn

    Paragraph 2

    1. raise seawseran
    2. the xicotninte crisis in Australia
    3. Many pcsiese of animals and plants
    4. Australia is rich in itbodieyvrsi
    5. raised $70,000 for the conservation cyhtair
    6. covered in tswea and flies

    Put the text back together

    (...)  do it. She said: "Even though sometimes you are covered in sweat and flies, and
    (...)  shape to last the 42.195-km distance. However, marathons are no problem for Australian runner Erchana Murray-Bartlett. She has just run
    (...)  charity the Wilderness Society. She said it was an incredibly tough five months, but she knew she could
    (...)  150 of them - every day for 150 days. The 32-year-old ran 6,329 km from Queensland, at the top
    (...)  everything ached, I thought: 'No, I can go one more kilometre' or: 'No, I can go 500 more metres'. If you keep stringing
    (...)  record. It's the most consecutive daily marathons ever run by a woman. She smashed the previous record
    (...)  of 106 marathons in 106 days. Ms Murray-Bartlett is a professional runner. She missed out on qualifying
    (...)  of Australia, to Melbourne, at the bottom. Her five-month coast-to-coast run set a new world
    (...)  for the Tokyo Olympics, so she set her sights on a record-breaking challenge.
    (...)  biodiversity, but has the worst rate of mammal loss of any country. Her run has raised $70,000 for the conservation
    (  1  ) Many people would struggle to run just one marathon. They would need months of training to get into
    (...)  crisis in Australia. Many species of animals and plants are dying out in her country. Australia is rich in
    (...)  together little tiny goals, you can make it." This is a lesson for us all.
    (...)  Murray-Bartlett embarked on her marathon number of marathons to raise awareness of the extinction

    Put the words in the right order

    1. marathon   .   run   to   Many   people   would   struggle   a
    2. to   of   shape   .   training   into   Need   months   get
    3. record   .   run   set   Her   world   coast-to-coast   five-month   a
    4. most   It's   the   daily   consecutive   run   .   marathons   ever
    5. for   out   on   missed   She   the   qualifying   Olympics   .
    6. and   out   .   Species   plants   are   animals   dying   of
    7. worst   of   of   country   .   The   rate   any   loss
    8. five   an   It   incredibly   was   months   .   tough
    9. sweat   flies   .   in   you   are   and   covered   Sometimes
    10. tiny   goals   .   little   keep   If   you   stringing   together

    Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

    Many people would struggle / snuggle to run just one marathon. They would need months of training to get into sharp / shape to last the 42.195-km distance. However, marathons are no / not problem for Australian runner Erchana Murray-Bartlett. She has just ran / run 150 of them - every day for 150 days. The 32-year-old ran 6,329 km from Queensland, at the top in / of Australia, to Melbourne, at the bottom. Her five-month coast-to-coast run set / let a new world record. It's the most consecutive / consecutively daily marathons ever run by a woman. She smashed / mashed the previous record of 106 marathons in 106 days. Ms Murray-Bartlett is a professional runner. She missed in / out on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, so she set her sights / sites on a record-breaking challenge.

    Murray-Bartlett embarked / disembarked on her marathon number of marathons to raise / rise awareness of the extinction crisis in Australia. Many species of animals and plants are dying up / out in her country. Australia is rich / wealth in biodiversity, but has the worst rate of mammal loss of many / any country. Her run has raised $70,000 for the conservation charity the Wilderness Society. She said it was an / the incredibly tough five months, but she knew she could do it. She said: "Even / Ever though sometimes you are covered in sweat and flies, and everything arched / ached, I thought: 'No, I can go one more kilometre' or: 'No, I can go 500 more metres'. If you keep stringing together little tinny / tiny goals, you can make it." This is a lesson for us / we all.

    Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. Look up the definition of new words.

    Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

    M_ny  p__pl_  w__ld  str_ggl_  t_  r_n  j_st  _n_  m_r_th_n.  Th_y  w__ld  n__d  m_nths  _f  tr__n_ng  t_  g_t  _nt_  sh_p_  t_  l_st  th_  42.195-km  d_st_nc_.  H_w_v_r,  m_r_th_ns  _r_  n_  pr_bl_m  f_r  __str_l__n  r_nn_r  _rch_n_  M_rr_y-B_rtl_tt.  Sh_  h_s  j_st  r_n  150  _f  th_m  -  _v_ry  d_y  f_r  150  d_ys.  Th_  32-y__r-_ld  r_n  6,329  km  fr_m  Q___nsl_nd,  _t  th_  t_p  _f  __str_l__,  t_  M_lb__rn_,  _t  th_  b_tt_m.  H_r  f_v_-m_nth  c__st-t_-c__st  r_n  s_t  _  n_w  w_rld  r_c_rd.  _t's  th_  m_st  c_ns_c_t_v_  d__ly  m_r_th_ns  _v_r  r_n  by  _  w_m_n.  Sh_  sm_sh_d  th_  pr_v___s  r_c_rd  _f  106  m_r_th_ns  _n  106  d_ys.  Ms  M_rr_y-B_rtl_tt  _s  _  pr_f_ss__n_l  r_nn_r.  Sh_  m_ss_d  __t  _n  q__l_fy_ng  f_r  th_  T_ky_  _lymp_cs,  s_  sh_  s_t  h_r  s_ghts  _n  _  r_c_rd-br__k_ng  ch_ll_ng_.

    M_rr_y-B_rtl_tt  _mb_rk_d  _n  h_r  m_r_th_n  n_mb_r  _f  m_r_th_ns  t_  r__s_  _w_r_n_ss  _f  th_  _xt_nct__n  cr_s_s  _n  __str_l__.  M_ny  sp_c__s  _f  _n_m_ls  _nd  pl_nts  _r_  dy_ng  __t  _n  h_r  c__ntry.  __str_l__  _s  r_ch  _n  b__d_v_rs_ty,  b_t  h_s  th_  w_rst  r_t_  _f  m_mm_l  l_ss  _f  _ny  c__ntry.  H_r  r_n  h_s  r__s_d  $70,000  f_r  th_  c_ns_rv_t__n  ch_r_ty  th_  W_ld_rn_ss  S_c__ty.  Sh_  s__d  _t  w_s  _n  _ncr_d_bly  t__gh  f_v_  m_nths,  b_t  sh_  kn_w  sh_  c__ld  d_  _t.  Sh_  s__d:  "_v_n  th__gh  s_m_t_m_s  y__  _r_  c_v_r_d  _n  sw__t  _nd  fl__s,  _nd  _v_ryth_ng  _ch_d,  _  th__ght:  'N_,  _  c_n  g_  _n_  m_r_  k_l_m_tr_'  _r:  'N_,  _  c_n  g_  500  m_r_  m_tr_s'.  _f  y__  k__p  str_ng_ng  t_g_th_r  l_ttl_  t_ny  g__ls,  y__  c_n  m_k_  _t."  Th_s  _s  _  l_ss_n  f_r  _s  _ll.

    Punctuate the text and add capitals

    many people would struggle to run just one marathon they would need months of training to get into shape to last the 42195km distance however marathons are no problem for australian runner erchana murraybartlett she has just run 150 of them  every day for 150 days the 32yearold ran 6329 km from queensland at the top of australia to melbourne at the bottom her fivemonth coasttocoast run set a new world record its the most consecutive daily marathons ever run by a woman she smashed the previous record of 106 marathons in 106 days ms murraybartlett is a professional runner she missed out on qualifying for the tokyo olympics so she set her sights on a recordbreaking challenge

    murraybartlett embarked on her marathon number of marathons to raise awareness of the extinction crisis in australia many species of animals and plants are dying out in her country australia is rich in biodiversity but has the worst rate of mammal loss of any country her run has raised 70000 for the conservation charity the wilderness society she said it was an incredibly tough five months but she knew she could do it she said even though sometimes you are covered in sweat and flies and everything ached i thought no i can go one more kilometre or no i can go 500 more metres if you keep stringing together little tiny goals you can make it this is a lesson for us all

    Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

    Manypeoplewouldstruggletorunjustonemarathon.Theywouldneed
    monthsoftrainingtogetintoshapetolastthe42.195-kmdistance.How
    ever,marathonsarenoproblemforAustralianrunnerErchanaMurray-
    Bartlett.Shehasjustrun150ofthem-everydayfor150days.The32-y
    ear-oldran6,329kmfromQueensland,atthetopofAustralia,toMelbou
    rne,atthebottom.Herfive-monthcoast-to-coastrunsetanewworldre
    cord.It'sthemostconsecutivedailymarathonseverrunbyawoman.Sh
    esmashedthepreviousrecordof106marathonsin106days.MsMurray-
    Bartlettisaprofessionalrunner.ShemissedoutonqualifyingfortheTok
    yoOlympics,soshesethersightsonarecord-breakingchallenge.Murra
    y-Bartlettembarkedonhermarathonnumberofmarathonstoraiseawa
    renessoftheextinctioncrisisinAustralia.Manyspeciesofanimalsandpl
    antsaredyingoutinhercountry.Australiaisrichinbiodiversity,buthast
    heworstrateofmammallossofanycountry.Herrunhasraised$70,000f
    ortheconservationcharitytheWildernessSociety.Shesaiditwasanincr
    ediblytoughfivemonths,butsheknewshecoulddoit.Shesaid:"Eventh
    oughsometimesyouarecoveredinsweatandflies,andeverythingache
    d,Ithought:'No,Icangoonemorekilometre'or:'No,Icango500morem
    etres'.Ifyoukeepstringingtogetherlittletinygoals,youcanmakeit."Thi
    sisalessonforusall.

    Free writing

    Write about record marathon runner for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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    Academic writing

    We should all run marathons to stay healthy and live longer. Discuss.

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    Homework

    1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
    2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
    3. MARATHONS: Make a poster about marathons. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
    4. RUNNING: Write a magazine article about creating running classes for students from elementary school to high school. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
    Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
    5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
    6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on marathons. Ask him/her three questions about marathons. Give him/her three of your ideas. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

    A Few Additional Activities for Students

    Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

    Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

    Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

    Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

    Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

    Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

    Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

    Also...

    Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

    • News
    • Warm ups
    • Pre-reading / Post-reading
    • Using headlines
    • Working with words
    • While-reading / While-listening
    • Moving from text to speech
    • Post-reading / Post-listening
    • Discussions
    • Using opinions
    • Plans
    • Language
    • Using lists
    • Using quotes
    • Task-based activities
    • Role plays
    • Using the central characters in the article
    • Using themes from the news
    • Homework

    Buy my book

    $US 9.99

    Answers

    (Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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