“I had three small children at home and I was working as a nurse when I was invited to go on a girls weekend away to Hamner to do this 10K run. I’d never really done running before so I was more attracted to the weekend away than the run itself. But I thought, 10k can’t be very far and it sounded easy enough. I tried to do a couple of training runs beforehand, maybe 2k round the block, that’s when I discovered that 10k was actually a really long way!
I suffered quite a lot through this event but I still really loved it; the vibe, the people supporting each other, the camaraderie, the trail, and of course finishing. It took me a long time, there was a lot of walking, but I was so pleased to finish. We didn’t even get a medal for that, but the feeling after you cross the line, it was just amazing.
After that I started running around the block a lot more, mostly with a couple of friends or just by myself early in the morning. I did a few more 10k events and slowly built up to having a go at the Half Marathon. Then around that time my youngest child was diagnosed with GDD or Global Development Delay, an intellectual disability; and Autism; and quite a few other things. That’s when I started to realise that running was actually really good for my brain. The diagnosis was a lot to get my head around. You know, you’ve kind of got to let go of one dream you had for your child, and start a new one. And I think that took me a few years to process. I’m a bit of a Type A personality, I always want to be able to control things, and direct the outcomes, so my brain just wouldn’t accept it. I started to use running more to help me cope, to manage and escape the chaos, ’cause at the time I really struggled with it.
My daughter, she’s 15 now, and a lot has changed, but I look back on those early days and I’m like, man, that was hard. As the kids have gotten older too, for running in particular, it became easier to go out for longer and longer runs. Then someone introduced me to trails, and from there I just left the roads behind.
I think because I’ve always worked as a nurse too, and particularly now being in my 40s, I’m seeing so many people the same age as me with some really awful health conditions and diagnosis. It’s made me realise, I’ve really got to get out there and do as much as I can! That’s also why I picked up on running the Milford Track with a friend. It was just two weeks after completing the Old Ghost Rd and I thought “this is a terrible idea, two ultras in two weeks!?” But then, how often do you get these opportunities? You have to take them don’t you. And I had the best day.
So whenever anything gets upsetting, or stressful, that’s just now what I do – I go running. It’s a great thing for your mental health, but I also think, if you’ve got a body that can get out there and do that, then you’re also really, really lucky. And I never take that for granted. I know I won’t always be able to run like this.
I think having my children and a supportive family in my life, working the job I do, and being able to run in amazing places, between all of those things, I just feel incredibly fortunate. Even when I’m suffering in the middle of an ultra, I’m always able to remind myself that I’m so so lucky!”
Sally @salbell23
(Christchurch)
Photo taken in Fiordland
–
Portraits of Runners + their stories
@RunnersNZ
