Jen's Journey: Navigating Life's Challenges and Celebrating Triumphs

As many prepare to begin the New York Marathon, my first marathon, the event that mark the start of my journey, I find Jen's story to be one of this year's most extraordinary. Her experience connects with people more deeply than the typical marathon tales of retired athletes or young individuals under 30 running their first marathon. Yet, it's best to hear it directly from Jen herself.

Hi, I’m Jen. I work full-time in the social policy sector specialising in an engagement and communications working closely with remotes communities across the NT and Australia. I’ve been a part of the Indigenous Marathon Foundation (IMF) and Darwin Deadlies family running since 2020 and has always held a special place in my heart with big dreams to one day run a marathon drawing inspiration over the years. 2024 showed me that time is not given and the importance of making moments, so I decided that 2025 I was going to go chase MY marathon dream.

What made you sign up for the Sydney Marathon ballot?

Sydney honestly wasn’t on my radar at first. I was aiming for Melbourne because I thought the later date in the year would give me more time to prepare, but that sold out in seconds. Next release was Gold Coast marathon and was successful in getting a spot, although in the back of my mind I worried I wouldn’t be ready by July. Noting that I had only gotten back into a decent running consistency in June 2024 starting from a 0-5km, moving to a 0-10km in December. The buzz of Sydney erupted becoming a World Major and seeing that it was 2 months later than Gold coast thus giving me more training time I thought what the hell, let's enter and see what happens. Never in my WILDEST dreams did I think that I would get the SUCCESSFUL email in January. Being so excited and not understanding what I was reading or doing at that moment, I managed to click through and confirm suddenly BOOM!! Sydney was on. It felt like I was given a gift a once in a lifetime moment and an Major Marathon now my dream. I ended up moving from the Gold Coast marathon to the half marathon, which became such an important milestone my first half marathon and my first MAJOR race. It gave me the confidence I needed.

Had you run a marathon before?

Goodness, no!

What drew you to Running Evolution? 

At first, I thought I could do it on my own—or maybe I just didn’t believe I deserved to aim for such big goals. But being around my Darwin Deadlies running family gave me the courage to seek the support I needed. I’d seen Coach Lee’s incredible achievements and knew she was someone who would understand me and guide me in the right way. Signing up with her felt like the safe and right choice. Her dedication and commitment to the community whilst still working at her own individual goals was inspirational.

What was the longest you’d run before signing up with Running Evolution? My longest official run was the Darwin City2Surf in 2022 at 13.195 km. Even in training I hadn’t pushed further than that—life, injury, illness, and the mental challenge of long-distance running always seemed to get in the way.

What was your experience with the coaching?

Lee was amazing. She built a program that fit me perfectly flexible enough to work with my life, but structured enough to push me, keep me accountable and allow me to train to my abilities and skills. She mixed up the sessions, so I never felt stuck doing the same thing. And the best part? She was always just a message or call away, ready to answer even my silliest questions. She’s approachable, down to earth, and so generous with her knowledge.

Did you hit any lows?

Definitely. This whole journey has been about commitment and showing myself (and my boys) and proving to myself that I can do HARD things and achieve BIG dreams as a plus sized runner. But there were challenges—in old injuries, in family and work pressures, the mental challenges of self-belief and in watching someone dear to me fight and lose their battle with cancer just 3 weeks before race day. Those were tough moments. But they also reminded me of why this journey mattered so much. Everyday, I honoured a promise to show up for myself in whatever way I could.

What were your highlights?

There were so many! Watching my endurance and fitness build and taking time to pause and think where I started was a massive highlight (noting I still can’t use a skipping rope). Going into my first half marathon running no more than 13.2km, anything more was a PB. Completing my first half marathon with a Sub 3 hours - 2h:59min56secs to be exact was mind-blowing!!! I was ecstatic and it gave me the belief that maybe, just maybe, I could go further—and that made the Sydney marathon journey even sweeter.

Backing it up and running another Half Marathon in the Darwin Half event under much tougher and HOT weather conditions showed me Gold Coast it wasn’t a one-off. And then there was my 30km training run in Darwin. I honestly didn’t think I could do it and delayed planning the run till the night before when even then I was still undecided where to go. So ultimately, I set off alone, worried I’d let others down. However, you wouldn’t believe it…… In the dark of the cool morning at East Point head torch beaming I saw fellow lights moving towards me and was lucky enough to cross paths with fellow running buddy and the run family of Yasmin doing her 30km with Nancy supporting her on the bike. I made it in 5 hrs and finished feeling good too, another moment that one gave me so much belief heading into Sydney.

What was it like running Sydney?

Sydney still feels like a blur. The first half went well the buzz the excitement, the people so many in various starting waves. Yasmin was able to pass me so seeing her was so special knowing we were both achieving our dreams. I popped my name on my shirt and hearing people call my name was so cool. Sharing part of the course with my brother—who’s pro ironman athlete in his own right—was such a special moment for us as siblings. Seeing my running family, old friends, and the Darwin Deadlies out on the course cheering made every step worth it. The second half was just pure grit. I had persistent stomach cramps from 5km in which impacted my nutrition, I ended up dehydrated and then had calf cramps like I’d never felt before throughout in the last 4km. It was brutal. But I never let myself stop. No toilets and No tears I kept telling myself along with many a running mantra and messages of strength and support flowing through my mind. The finish line was chaos and celebration all at once. Both calves cramped right at the finish line and I stumbled and fell literacy across the finish line. I remember saying to myself “quick get up keep going” to which I did and then had the finish line support people there grabbing me saying “You ok?, You have finished you can stop running now!” hahahah I was like”Oooh Ok” but the energy of that moment—the cheering, the recognition, the joy of finishing—was unforgettable scrapes, bruises and all.

What’s next?

For now, it’s about recovery – I took a good few weeks off. I’ve been running through injuries, and jugging life and my body needs a proper break. I wanted to give myself space to heal, reset, and refocus. But I’m not done. I’ve got so many dreams ahead—more City2Surfs, another marathon someday, maybe even trying my hand at a multisport tri event. This journey isn’t just about races, it’s about health, growth, and showing my kids that anything is possible if you dream it and work towards it anything is possible even failure is still success because you tried and that more than not trying at all. Maybe one day I can work through all 7 world majors and keep building those stars – you’re never too old to dream. At the end of the day, I remind myself: I can do hard things—and so can you. Every step forward is progress, and life’s too short not to give it a go.