“Back in my teenage years I was told “you’ll never be a runner because of your weak knees”. And since then I’ve simply accepted I cannot run.
Life got busy; I became a workaholic and a mum to 2 gorgeous babies, but quickly lost my work life balance. I moved out of the big city to Taupō in 2013 and became smitten with the beautiful outdoors, fresh air, clear blue skies and the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen. However my world crashed when I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in Jan 2016.
I went through my treatments reflecting on aspects of my lifestyle and realised I needed to find myself again; to work on having more balance between my role as a mum who attends to her family, while also prioritising my own needs and wants in order to take care of ME, my body & my mental wellbeing. I knew what I needed to achieve, but I was still seeking the real definition of what that entails.
Then at the Ironman 2019 Taupō I was watching at the finish line. The crowd went wild and cheered an amazing athlete in his 70s on as he ran to the finish at about 11pm. I will never forget how ecstatic and relieved he was to have completed the race and what that finish must have meant to him. It was an emotional finish and I thought to myself, “If he can do it, I can do it too. I should give running my best shot!”
Something in me changed that night. I decided to take on a challenge and learn to run; with great help from my physios and run coaches. The goal was set, to complete a Half Marathon in 12 months.
My first 15 min jog started in March 2019 and 5 months later I ran my very first race at the Taupō Marathon 2019, completing the 10km distance. Then I ticked off my very first Half Marathon at Maraetai in Auckland 2020, and completed a 24km Trail Race at the Taupō Ultramarathon this year – my longest race to date.
Running has taught me to trust myself and my body, to never give up, no matter how tough it gets out there. With every race, I learn something new and I am grateful that my body is supporting me through races in beautiful locations in NZ.
There is life after Cancer, and it can totally be even better than before.”
Katherine @katfroggatt
(Taupō)
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Portraits of Runners + their stories
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