“In early 2012 my son asked me to help him train for his school cross country race. Living on a farm in Northern NSW at the time, we made a plan to run from the shed to the front gate and back. I didn’t even run as far as the 200m to my front gate. Carrying the weight of three pregnancies and unhealthy living, I made the decision to lose the weight so I could be there for my kids in every way possible. Through the process of losing weight and learning to move my body in lots of different ways, I found the running components were what brought me the most satisfaction. First I made it to the gate, then down the road, then to the school. It soon became a quest to answer the question ‘how far can I go?’.
Since then I have found a love of the trails and have run trail races ranging from 6 to 160kms. It was a trip to participate in a race, Northburn, that brought me to NZ and resulted with our whole family moving here. Races aren’t what drives me to run though. The thing that brings me the most joy is spending a day (or days) in the mountains with one or two friends, moving freely, capturing as many summits, sunrises and views as we can. The freedom of movement and the joy of seeing the spaces few take the time or energy to seek out. It is magic.”
Jo @runjojo
(Wānaka)
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Portraits of Runners + their stories
@RunnersNZ
