From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's your host, Sam Collins.
Hello everyone. It's great to be here with you. And for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness and low vision.
Running is possible for everyone, but even a lot of races, if you don't actually run, you can walk. A lot of races like the New York Marathon has really lenient cutoff time. So there are people who walked the whole New York Marathon. So, you know, the running community is just a great community. There's not a lot of judgment. We're there for each other, to support each other, regardless of how fast or slow we do things.
Welcome to the program. This week we hear from Claudia Stevenson, a marathon runner who, along with her guide, recently took part in and completed the New York Marathon. You'll hear from her with a voice that's familiar to some people, I'm sure Matt Leigh as he caught up with Claudia to chat all about it. Then later on, you'll hear from Conrad Browne. He caught up with artistic director of
the other film festival, Fiona Twohey. The festival overlapped as well with the celebration of International Day for people with disabilities on the 3rd of December. I hope you'll enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. And now here's Matt Ley with Claudia Stephenson.
We're joined by Claudia Stephenson, an active member of Achilles Melbourne who recently took on the New York Marathon and completed it. And today we have Claudia on the line. Thanks for joining us, Claudia.
No problem. I'm glad to be here, Matt.
What are the current emotions for you after? What was an amazing experience?
I just feel so proud. I've put in a lot of hard work over the last 12 months, and to have completed the marathon and done a lot better than what I expected, I just yes, so proud of myself. It's been a huge year while I've been training, I suppose, and something that I hadn't ever really thought I could do before.
Anything like these big challenges in life. I take a lot of planning, and you don't just wake up one day and say, we're going to run a marathon. It takes a lot of planning, takes a lot of research. When did the first idea come that you wanted to complete the New York Marathon?
As first, I've been thinking about completing a marathon. I'm the last couple of years. I am fairly recent to running, so I joined Achilles Melbourne about six years ago, and before then I really wasn't a runner. I had pretty negative experiences of running at high school and then, you know, sort of put it behind me. I've been very active
in my life. You know, I've done some really long walks and I've done other physical activities, but I've never really been a runner and didn't really think I was. I could be a runner. Yeah, I sort of a few things happened around the time that I joined Achilles. Like I had a friend who suggested I could do one of those catch to five K programs. I started taking part in parkrun activities and I joined Achilles, and all of those things just sort of started me on
that running journey. It's been over time that I've, you know, I've sort of been working towards becoming a runner from, from definitely being a walker. I think only this year I've really actually started to think of myself as a, as a real runner, even though, you know, I've completed some half marathons and done, you know, races before. And
this year it's my mindsets really changed. And I've really had to realise that actually I am a runner and particularly after finishing a marathon, I've got no excuses anymore. I definitely have to call myself a runner and.
Having that self-belief too is very important.
Yeah it is. I think it's just one of those little shifts, you know, the way that our language influences, you know, our thoughts. Changing that, that language and starting to call myself a runner has been has been really important for me.
So what sort of training did you do over periods of time to build up to this big event? To say, I'm ready to run the New York Marathon and then take that next forward step in and getting this support to do so.
Yeah. So I really got serious last November when the the last year's marathon was running. That was when I really clicked and I went, yeah, I really want to do this. I've been, you know, toughing it up for a couple of years. In 2022, I ran the Gold Coast Half Marathon, and I got really serious about doing that. And I got a coach and she wrote me up
a really fantastic training program, and I followed that. So it really broke it down into these really manageable goals that included walking, which was really important to me, so that I always tried to do better than what my training program says. So if it said, you know, you're allowed to walk for a kilometre, I'd kind of go, okay, well, I'll try and, you know, limit my walking to 500m or I'll try and do it without walking at all. But having that little, you know, out was still really
important to me. And so did the Gold Coast Half Marathon and did it really successfully. And that really gave me confidence that, yeah, perhaps I really could get serious about doing a full marathon. And I've seen in the past that Achilles international had really good connections with the New York Marathon, and there'd been some opportunities for people to go over in the past and participate. So I thought, oh yeah, okay, right, I'm going to make it happen.
2023 is going to be hopefully the year. So I approached that same coach that would give me that training program and I said, okay, I want to make this happen. And I said, you know, I've heard people say, oh, you only need 16 weeks, you know, to train for the marathon. And I was like, yeah, no, I need, I need a year because I didn't consider myself to be that runner. And running wasn't a part of my life. And at that stage I had gone back to sort
of not running. After doing the Gold Coast Marathon, I sort of a half marathon. I'd sort of stopped and I decided I really needed to, to actually get running regularly and get running again. So. I had to really build myself up from from barely being able to run, you know, five KS to, to get him to back to those longer distances of being able to do a
half and then work up to the full. So I got got myself a really good training program, and I also started the process to actually entering the New York Marathon. So we had to enter the ballot and have our names basically drawn out of the hat. So I think I put my name down in the ballot in February, and the ballot was drawn in March, and I was successful to actually get a place. So then that was where it got actually serious, and I was like, well, okay,
we've really got to make this happen now. So yeah, just just working over the last 12 months really to, you know, with strength. So I do a strength class, runs a strength class on a Wednesday night and then also doing workouts in the gym. So, you know, a shorter workout on a, on a my my workday in around my workday. So on Monday I would go to the gym and do a shorter workout. Then on a Friday I'd do a sort of either a speed or a hill session, Saturday doing parkrun and then Sunday with
my long run day. And that gradually built up over time from, you know, sort of A5K to the ten to the 15 to the 20 to the 23, 24, you know, and all the way up to about 32 K's was the longest we ever did in training before actually doing the marathon.
When you knew that you had successfully applied and got permission to run, did you actually go over there for at all prior to the marathon to be, you know, to maybe complete the course before you competed in the actual marathon itself or or did you, I suppose, talk to others that might may have experienced the marathon to get some hints, some tips, just a little bit of the pitfalls, some of the things to be aware of and just get so your own bearings of some things
that you needed just to gain that, that confidence in yourself.
Oh golly, I wish I would just have the money to just loved the States every couple of weeks. You know, that'd be great. No, there was no chance of me going over to the States. Before the marathon. We'd had another one of our members complete the marathon last year, so we chatted to them about their experiences, both them and their guide about their experiences. I have a treadmill that's like a super duper treadmill. It's got like video workouts, and it actually had parts of the New York Marathon
on it. So I did sort of 30 K's of the New York Marathon on my treadmill, and that was pretty amazing, because you got a bit of a taste for what the crowds were going to be like, because, you know, you could hear the crowds and the trainer talk to you about the, yeah, the different locations that you were passing. So that was pretty cool. And then, you know, just talking to some other people who had completed it. So I tried to do a bit of research.
Looking back in hindsight, actually, nothing prepares you for what it's actually like out on course. It's completely unlike anything. I think anyone could have prepared that the crowds are so loud. Yeah, and the vibe in New York is just so intense. You know, everyone's talking about the marathon wherever you go. Like, it's just amazing. It really. It's like, you know, we talk about Melbourne, you know, the Melbourne Cup,
the race, it stops the nation. Well, you know, the New York Marathon is the race that really stops New York. Like everyone's just so on board. It's yeah, it's just amazing.
What were some of the challenges doing doing the marathon career? I mean what were the biggest things for you? Obviously you need resilience to be able to complete it. There's times that you're you're doing you're doing it in blocks of kilometers, as you alluded to before, and you've trained it. So there's different thoughts going through your mind through the whole journey. But there must be so many other challenges within it as well.
Yeah, I learned a lot about myself during the marathon, so I run with a guide next to me, and then I also have a bulldozer out the front, and my bulldozer was doing the best job of getting those crowds revved up. And, you know, he was really getting them going and like, really getting them to cheer and whatever. And all I was thinking was like, oh, no, please just stop. It's just too much like there's just too
much noise. So I learned about myself. But actually, I don't find all of that extra noise really all that invigorating. Whereas actually, my God, my other guy, she was absolutely feeding off it and just drawing so much energy from that. And I was almost like the opposite way of like, I just died. This is not recharging my batteries at all, which is like draining my batteries really quickly. So, you know,
that was a really good learning for me to take away. And, you know, next time I'd definitely be thinking about what I could be doing for myself to help mitigate some of that excess noise. Like, I love the people actually being there. It was gorgeous. There was like young kids giving you high fives along the side. And I loved all of that. And I think also for me. Having never done a marathon. And as I said before, you know, in our training we go up to about 32km. It
was like ten kilometers that I'd never run before. It was like venturing into the unknown. And and I was thinking about that in my head. I was like, oh golly, we're coming up to 32 K's. Oh, this is where I don't know. I don't know the rest of this, you know, like, and I was, I was getting into my own head. So, you know, for the next marathon that I run because yes, I am thinking about doing another one. Yeah. You know, I will be able to change my mindset in that last ten k's because that
is when it starts to get physically challenging. But, you know, hopefully take away some of that mental challenge by going, actually, we have done this before. I have been here, you know, we can do this. And knowing a little bit more about what it feels like, oh.
Is this going to ask on Knox Robinson, the, the influence that he'd had on you?
Yeah. So as I mentioned, I have this really amazing treadmill that's got these amazing trainers and knocks. Robinson was the guy that actually did the New York training, you know, the marathons on the on the on the treadmill. And I was meant to have another guide from Melbourne come over to the States with me. But unfortunately she had to pull out for some medical reasons. So I just like out of the blue contacted Knox and he agreed
to run the marathon with me. Just having him there was just like amazing because I'd literally done the course with him on the treadmill, but I hadn't completed it. And so yeah, that last little section was like quite amazing, actually, crossing the finishing line with him. And yeah, his his energy was just fantastic. And just his confidence that like, absolutely, he knew that I was going to just complete it
and do it really well. So you know, it was and he'd never met me, you know, like I was getting that from my from my coach Karen, but you know, like to have someone who'd never met me and, you know, absolutely following that up, backing that up in the actual run was was incredible career.
As we wrap up a final message for people who in the future would like to follow your lead and run a marathon in particular, something special similar to the New York Marathon.
I think my message is that running, you know, is possible for everyone, but even a lot of races, if you don't actually run, you can walk. A lot of races like the New York Marathon has really lenient cutoff time. So there are people who walked through the whole New York Marathon. So, you know, the running community is just a great community. There's not a lot of judgment. We're there for each other, to support each other, regardless of
how fast or slow we do things. You know, we're doing better than the people who get who don't get off the couch. So come along, get involved. Come for a walk. Come for a jog, come for a run.
You can go to Achilles australia.org dot forward slash Melbourne for further details. Cordia Stevenson thanks for joining us on Vision Australia Radio.
No problems at all. Thanks so much for your time, Matt.
I'm Sam Culley and you're listening to Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio, associated stations of FX and the Community Radio Network. I hope you enjoyed that interview with Matt Lee and Claudia Stephenson there. If you missed any part of that conversation with Matt and Claudia, or you'd love to have a listen again. Talking vision is available on the Vision Australia Radio website at npr.org. You can also find Talking Vision through your favorite podcast platform or through
the Vision Australia library. And now here's Conrad Brown with Fiona Toohey from the other film festival.
The other film festival and Arts Access Victoria are presenting resistance, an online accessible film program available for streaming on demand now via Acm's Cinema three website. Resistance is a program of international and Australian films screening until Thursday, December 7th. All of the resistance films are made by deaf and disabled people, either as key creators, collaborators and or performers, and also, very importantly, all of the films are free
to watch. Audio described and captioned. The other film festival is proudly disability led, with a festival team including artistic director Fiona Toomey, who is joining us on the program today. Fiona, wonderful to have you here.
Oh, thank you so much. You know, honored to be here as well.
Fiona, we love featuring a festival on Virgin Australia Radio that ticks the boxes. And I mean that in the most positive way. So great to see that. It is obviously disability focused but also audio described as well, which is something that's very important to our community of interest and our listeners. But before we go into the program and looking at it kind of more in depth, tell us a little bit about your role in the festival and the festival itself. Okay.
Well, next to you, the other film festival, or as we call in its nickname is TOF. Yes, it's its 20th anniversary. I've been working on it as artistic director for the last few years, but I was, as I'm a filmmaker as well. I was around a little bit when it started in the early 2000. You know, there was many reasons for it to stop. But one of the big reasons at the time and, you know, things have improved, but they've still got a long way to
go that access. So particularly audio description captioning wasn't happening at the kind of mainstream film festivals. And even with cinema, there was still that fight going on. So in terms of access, that's something that it isn't tokenistic. It's something that we do a lot of advocacy on. But for our offer, there's certain, you know, minimum they're not even minimum. Like we wouldn't do something if it wasn't going to be audio described for example. So sort of that's some
of the history. And what's quite exciting now. And I like am artistic director. You know, I do work part time doing this work for the festival at Arts Access Victoria. But I'm also a filmmaker and identify with disability, and I've also ended up being there's a few of us,
but doing a lot of advocacy in that mainstream space. And, you know, there's a lot of change coming and a lot of disability is actually finally, you know, a big part of the diversity conversations that are happening mainstream, but still a lot along a long way to go and a lot to kind of for the mainstream to catch
up with. So that's both in terms of access. And you would know a lot more around how much work screen work out there is and is not audio described, but also and what's really important to us and how we ended up choosing the films too, is that we are really interested in who's authoring the film, who's actually making the film. So in the screenings we talk about Above the Line, so that's writers, directors and producers, and we really want that work to be made in the
language we use by deaf and disabled people. You know, that there's authentic casting, that there's, you know, social model thinking. So it's really found this exciting portrayal that channel four has. And they actually use that term social model thinking. But it's just really trying to get away from all the stereotypes we've all seen. We want also opportunities for for actors and performers and all creatives to actually be getting roles in not only short films but in mainstream as well.
So we feel like, you know, our film festival and it's so great that it can be national. Yes, streaming platform hopefully is helping. That's part of our modus operandi, which is big language. That's part of what we're you know what I mean? We're not just choosing these films out of nowhere. There's there's sort of a framework we're trying to or a very strong advocacy, but also hopefully really entertaining and insightful.
I think all film festivals, you know, walk that fine line.
But with Toff, I think one of the. Things that came out for me when I was looking at the program and reading more about it was, there's always a lot of talk about representation and the importance of representation, but for a lot of people that can just be having someone in the cast who has a disability or is othered in some way, as you've highlighted, the really important part here is that representation is key on screen and behind the scenes, and in every single aspect of
of what is being presented, which is such an important thing. And it seems obvious, but I think, as you said, we've come a long way, but we still have a long way to come in terms of representation. But when you're putting the program together, you know it's featuring international and Australian films. Is there a lot of content out there for you to choose from, or are you really kind of getting in there and hunting all of this, these great films out?
We are definitely hunting things out. I mean, think, look, it's not to say it's certainly more work coming through, but because our focus is really like, we want to know who's making the work and not trying to be like a censor, but we're really making space for something that has been unrepresented. And where us as a disability community, have not had the power and agency in that storytelling. And so that's really important to us. And I suppose
that's also not true. We've got a real curatorial focus. And so this year we've got the theme of resistance. Last year we had a theme of flaunt is I suppose we're going for that less is more approach as well, and we're wanting, but it is a struggle to find. And that's why I feel with the other film festival, you know, we do get funding from Screen Australia, but
we have three streams. So the screening industry and what I'm called community is because for me and am, as I said, a filmmaker, it's like I don't want to just be showing work from overseas or I don't want to do I want to be able to show we're based in Victoria, I want to be able to show a Victorian work, I want to be able. And in New South Wales they have this great program called Screen Ability.
So we do have two screen ability short films and that is a that's a programming fund for people with disability to make their own work. But that's not in every state. So look there's definitely more work coming. But and it is challenging because ultimately disabilities are fabric. It's part of society. So ultimately everyone should and we should have disabled characters, I think, in all our mainstream shows.
And and it's not wanting to be that kind of the advocacy police, but at the moment we've just had it's been going on for more than 100 years. We're not many of us are actually being the ones with
our own agency in the storytelling. So that's why we want to prioritize, you know, as we say, kind of a cliche, but in a way, we would love it in a future where as a festival, we didn't need to exist because, you know, particularly for your audience, is that everything has got audio description or it's meeting access. But most importantly, deputies, abled people can, if they want to have thriving careers as screenwriters or filmmakers or producers. One of the.
Other things that I think is a really important part to highlight about this festival is that when we talk about access, one of the other really unique things of this festival is that it is online and it is on demand and it is free. Now, we got used to in some ways because of lockdowns and during Covid times, being able to tap into some film festivals through online
and on demand. And I think for a lot of people, they may have seen it as a convenient thing, but for others, it actually offered true accessibility to be able to enjoy and engage with these film festivals and really keen to find out from you, why is it so important for you to have it available in this platform and also for free?
What's hybrid access? You can't, you know, I know if some people like I've been told we that for the deaf blind community, being online for example, may not be the best option. Sure. But you know, especially like for example, I'm immunocompromised, so I'm still being really careful how I go out in the world. But we've always had, you know, there's always a different range of access, meaning, you know, within the disability community, different times of day. So it's
different people. If you live regionally, you can't, you know, different things about even travelling. So think having it. And we've extended this year for two weeks for an over a two week period. It gives you the flexibility, being on demand to watch it in your own time, in your own space, when you want to. And in terms of it being free, that's also really important because we don't want to prohibit particularly, you know, for the disability
community there's always exceptions but not the wealthiest communities. So it's like that can be a barrier. We're just trying to remove as many barriers as possible. So there's always these arguments around oh but if you charge a nominal amount then people might watch more. But we're just trying to remove that. And we've got very clear access guidelines on the ACMi cinema three website. So making it really clear how you have to create an. Like maybe she
could count on the cinema three platform. But then once you're in all our offerings during the two weeks of the festival, the work is free.
No, I think it's so important. I think it's something that I don't think a lot of festivals have taken into account, is what accessibility actually can mean for a lot of different people.
Yeah. And the audience numbers you can actually get. And I know because we also do, you know, partner with a number of the other bigger film festivals. And a couple of times we've done things. They've been shocked by the audience numbers. They've got when something's been online.
I'm so glad to hear that. It's such a great lineup of a variety of films that you've got there on offer. So as we mentioned, Fiona, the festival is on until Thursday, December 7th. There's a fantastic range of films available on offer. It's free, it's on demand, it's online to have a check out what's happening in the programme and with the festival itself, head to cinema three dot ACMi dot net and then look for the other film festival. Really exciting that this festival exists and it's
out there for everyone to enjoy. So Fiona, we are really proud to support it here on Virgin Australia Radio and wish you and the team all the best for a great festival.
Thank you so much.
That was Conrad Brown with Fiona Tully from the other film festival. If you're listening to this on Wednesday the 6th of December, there are still a couple of days left to watch the movies on offer through the other
film festival. However, if you are listening past midnight on the 7th of December, worry not as in the meantime, there are plenty of audio described films, programs and exhibits on display through the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, as well as Vision Australia's catalogue of movies, TV shows and theatre productions, plus much more. To find out more about audio description, search for audio description services on the
Visual Studio website. Vision australia.org that's Vision Australia all one word.org and that's all we have time for today. You've been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a production of Vision Australia Radio. Thanks to all involved with putting the show together and remember we love your feedback and comments. So please do get in touch on Talking Vision at Vision australia.org. That's talking vision all. One word at Vision australia.org.
But until next week it's Sam Cully saying bye for now.
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during business hours on one 308 4746. That's one 308 4746 or by visiting Vision australia.org. That's Vision australia.org.