“In 2010 I was a member of a local outdoor fitness group in Melbourne. We’d do weights and cardio a few times a week and we had plenty of fun while improving our fitness.
When our trainer offered a running package for the upcoming Run Melbourne event, the group convinced me that I should run the 10km. All my friends were doing it and I didn’t want to miss out! Our trainer assured us that if we followed the program and trained, we could absolutely do it. I’d never run that far before, so it was a big deal. Well I loved the event and enjoyed cheering my friends on and celebrating with them afterwards. I was hooked!
I went on to do more fun runs with the group including the Melbourne Marathon (1/2 marathon), Run for the Kids (14km) and Tough Mudder (about 20km including some crazy obstacles). Each event felt like a real achievement.
In 2016 a parkrun started in our local area. Other members of my family started going, and I soon joined in because it looked like fun! Now I’ve moved to Te Anau, parkrun motivates me to get up and run on Saturday mornings. I enjoy the social side of it since I don’t know many people in town.
I still find running hard… I have never found the runners high that I’ve heard about. But I run to keep fit and to make other activities more enjoyable, such as hiking the amazing mountains in NZ!”
Jacqui
(Te Anau)
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Portraits of Runners + their stories
@RunnersNZ
