A Sri Lankan family with a little girl of 9 years left for the United States of America in search of greener pastures.
That little girl was Hiruni Wijataratne, still a Sri Lankan national.
Now 25 years old, she has made a name in Athletics in the USA, and her dream is to represent Sri Lanka in Athletics.
While at school at St. Bridget's Convent in Colombo 7, her love for Athletics was evident by her outstanding performances at the Primary school Sports Meets.
Hiruni continued with her running in America, excelling in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field disciplines at Herndon High School, Virginia.
She went on to win multiple District, Regional and Viginia state titles, which garnered the attention of various NCAA Division I Universities.
In 2009, she entered the University of Kentucky (KU) on a full scholarship mainly due to the University's focus on Athletics, and the support the University's Athletic dept extends to its Athletes.
At KU, Hiruni ran from the 1500m to 10,000m, but injuries prevented her from regaining the form she showed at High school.
After graduating from of KU with a BA in Strategic Communications and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Hiruni found employment as an Executive Team Leader in one of America's largest Retail store operations, where she works more than 60 hours a week.
However, that never stopped her passion for long distance running, even after left she left KU as she wanted to prove to herself that she was still a great runner.
In her maiden appearance in a marathon, on a cold day in Indianapolis, Indiana, Hiruni won in 2:43:34, which at the time, was better than the Sri Lanka National Marathon record for women.
She was thrilled with her maiden victory and realised she had a future in marathon running.
From there onwards, Hiruni believed she had the talent, work ethic, and most importantly, the passion to represent Sri Lanka in Athletics. She said, "It has been a childhood dream of mine to bring pride to Sri Lanka. Given the opportunity, I know I can deliver."
Now, at 25, Hiruni is in Boulder, Colorado, training to achieve the IAAF World Championship qualification standard of 2:45:00 for the marathon, so that, she could represent Sri Lanka.
She plans to visit Sri Lanka in October, to take participate in the LSR Colombo Marathon.
On her request to the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) to represent her motherland in the 2017 World Championship and in all the other international Athletic meets, the AASL and the Ministry of Sports should extend her all the encouragement and support to do so.
It is understood that the AASL wants Hiruni to take part in the trials on April 8 and 9 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex, Diyagama.
As it is winter in Colorado, will Hiruni be able to give off her best in this hot, humid conditions in Sri Lanka.
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