An activity you once did that made you feel tired

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 595 with Model Answer:

Describe an activity you once did that made you feel tired.

You should say:

• what activity it was
• when you did this activity
• why you took part in this activity

and explain why you think it made you feel tired..

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

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Model Answer:

Thank you so much for this interesting topic. Here, I’d like to talk about an activity that completely drained my energy, and that was participating in a charity marathon. I will share this experience with you.

I joined this event about a year ago. A local organisation arranged a marathon to raise funds for underprivileged children, and a group of my friends signed up. I didn’t want to feel left out, and I also liked the cause, so I registered as well. I had done short runs before, but never anything close to a full marathon.

On the day of the event, thousands of participants gathered early in the morning. The atmosphere felt energetic and inspiring at first. I started running with confidence, but after the first few kilometres, reality hit me hard. My legs grew heavy, my breathing turned shallow, and I kept asking myself why I had agreed to do it! I pushed through sections of the route, walked during others, and kept reminding myself that the money raised would help children get books and school supplies.

I took part in this activity mainly because I wanted to support the charity and challenge myself at the same time. I thought I could handle it with minimal training, which in hindsight, was a terrible assumption. I also wanted to prove to myself that I had enough mental strength to complete something physically demanding.

The marathon left me extremely tired for a few reasons. First, I didn’t prepare properly. I underestimated how long-distance running affects the body, so my muscles couldn’t cope with the strain. Second, the weather turned surprisingly hot, and I lost a lot of energy trying to stay hydrated and keep moving. And finally, the constant pressure to finish the race kept me pushing when my body just wanted to stop, so by the time I crossed the finish line, I felt completely exhausted. Even though I ended that day barely able to walk, I still felt proud. The tiredness came from genuine effort, and I knew it contributed to a meaningful cause.