What has been the toughest experience in your career and what did you learn from it?
I’ve been through a lot of tough experiences – it’s definitely a part of running long.
I’ve had two most influential turning points. The first was attempting my first marathon in 2001. I gave up at the 19 mile mark – I thought I had nothing left to give. I went home and vowed that this was not the way I wanted my marathon story to end, so I entered another marathon, trained and completed it.
The second was the JungleUltra – I had never been so scared and exhilarated at the same time. I spent 5 days, 230kms running through a jungle for the majority of it on my own carrying everything I needed to survive on my back and I got through it.
Through both of these experiences, I learned that I was in control of my body, my mind, my intentions, my direction and the definition of my success.