“A privilege to be running”

I’m no elite runner by any means and by definition I’d be classified as an amateur which is someone who engages in a sport not as a professional and who receives no money for training or competing. I have been a runner for about three years and somehow, I was selected to participate at the World Championship Skyrunning event in Soria, Spain. 

Needless to say, I sat there feeling an overwhelming pride, astonishment and shock whilst being filled with a deep sense of privilege at the opportunity to participate in such a prestigious event. It is an honour to be selected to represent the Australian Team and just highlights what dedication, hard work and consistent training can potentially achieve for the every day runner.

Amidst Covid I fell in love with running trails. Having always been active, I had been spending most of my free time rock climbing & hiking prior. My developing love for the trails increased rapidly and before I knew it, I had ticked off my first ever 50km, 50mile, 100km and 100mile race basically within the first year of my running debut. Now as an accredited Athletics Australia coach I would not recommend this to any of my athletes. Do as I say, not as I do.

Living in Northern NSW the majority of my running is spent on trails in the Gold Coast. One of my favourite weekly runs is in the Currumbin Border Trails where I run with other women in my social run group, I named the Fearless Femmes. I admit it is chatty and fuelled by a lot of laughs & coffee at the end hence my favourite run of the week.

I recently attended the Reclaim the Trails event at Mt Cootha, Brisbane and I was delighted to see the incredible community and local trail running support out there. Hearing about the attacks that have occurred on women in Mt Cootha trails has definitely hit me hard. Personally, I run a lot of my runs alone on the trails and it is terrifying to think that I might be unsafe and at risk of being attacked. I have run many times on Mt Cootha trails and work closely with Brisbane Trail Ultra each year and recall running sections of those trails during the 110km race in the night.

At that time, I didn’t feel unsafe at all. Now knowing what has occurred puts a very unsettling feeling in my stomach to think you may be at risk of harm whilst out doing something you so dearly love. No one should ever have to feel unsafe or a sense of unease or at risk of being attacked.

I myself know this feeling all too well having had my own experience of abuse within a past relationship and have been a strong advocate in speaking out against violence against women. Thankfully the support from trained professionals such as police and psychologists have been an absolute saviour to my recovery. 

Running for me has been healing both physically and emotionally. It is a place for me to clear my head and empty any negative thoughts. I find it almost meditative being able to run with my thoughts, be in nature and think of little else other than where I place my feet in front of me.

My year of running this year has been unplanned and sporadic. I’ve had some massive changes including moving and studying in the Blue Mountains for 6 months, creating new friendships along the journey, quitting my stable government job whilst in search of a newfound passion, starting up my own business offering nature-based outdoor therapy. I had no races formally planned this year and just signed up to the events I felt I could commit to at those particular times. One of those events was the Kunanyi Mountain Run Immersion including the Vertical km, ultra solo and the foothills race. To my own amazement I won the Vertical km which has been the gateway to my selection for the World Championship sky race Desafio Urbion in Soria, Spain. 

What I’ve enjoyed most recently about training is being back in sunny Qld and being able to train in the warmer weather. I don’t function so well in the cold so training in the Blue Mountains was beginning to get challenging as soon as the cooler temps started. One of the best parts about where I live is having the mountains so accessible and the ocean on my doorstep. Jumping into the ocean after a session in the trails is an incredible way to maximise your recovery with all that saltwater goodness. 

If anyone had have said to me 3years ago I would be representing Australia in a world championship race I would have found this unbelievable. This just goes to show that dreams you are totally unaware of can come true. So, dream big I say!

Getting to the start line of the World Championships in Soria, Spain was incredible. I personally don’t like to reconnaissance the course too much until race day. Admittedly I was full of nerves and all I could think was I wanted to do myself proud and the Australian team proud as this may be my only opportunity to participate. So having dragged my Mum all the way to Spain too I dragged her to the start line of the Vertical Km where we hiked a little bit of the start line whilst I made attempts at talking to the locals in my broken and useless Spanish. Regardless of my limited ability to communicate you could tell this event was something special to the locals having athletes from all over the world participate.

Race day was impending, I was meeting most of the Australian athletes for the first time and the nerves were certainly spiking. My first race was the Vertical Km and I stood proud at the front of that start line as the only Australian woman participating knowing I would not stay in the front of the pack but it was of no consequence. Once the countdown begun we were away before you knew it and I was climbing that mountain. I settled in and pushed as hard as I think I’ve ever pushed before because by the end of it Strava told me I had sat in threshold for a little over an hour! I definitely felt it that was for sure. My result placed me 32^nd out of 48 women with a time of 1:02:23.

I had a day in between where I rested and cheered on some of the other athletes who competed in the Sky Ultra before then standing on the start line once again in the 37km with 2500m vertical gain. I had such a wonderful day out in the mountains I could not keep that smile off my face. All I could think was what an adventure, how spectacular are these mountains and how fortunate am I to have this opportunity.

All day as you neared a checkpoint or spectators you could hear their cheers! I constantly thought I was hearing them cheer “Vamos Animal”! I wondered and wondered why they were calling me an animal but internally laughing hysterically thinking it must be some cool thing like I’m a legend. Instead, later on I was relaying this to the others saying what on earth was that all about to be corrected and told they were cheering “Vamos Animo” meaning Come on, Cheer up! Well, they were wrong I was so cheery. I absolutely loved and enjoyed every aspect of the race from technicality, to the elevation gain, the views, the people and the place. I couldn’t be happier with my result of 5:30:40 placing 30^th out of 53 women.

As a woman who is new to the trail running scene, I feel so grateful for the opportunity to participate and compete. Financially this is not affordable to most athletes and I am fortunate to have had the support from family and friends to help me get there to enable me to participate. All I can think is one day I may not be able to run the distances I have, I may not have the funds to compete, my life may change in other ways where life may send me down another path and running may not be part of that picture. So I am forever grateful to have my health, have the capacity to move and the most wonderful people around me who encourage and support me with my passion to run. Running brings me so much joy and for now I will continue to spread the joy through my personal pursuits as a running coach and an outdoor therapist supporting others and showing them the benefits of movement for your mental health and emotional wellbeing.