Stories that inspire us

It was February 2012 when we made a life changing decision which continues to have a massively positive impact on the way we live today. Both myself – Maggie – and my daughter – Kat – had been overweight for a long time and that’s not to say that we weren’t active, although we were both kidding ourselves about how much exercise we were actually doing versus the amount of food we were eating. Being so close to Riverhead forest meant that running was an easy choice as a way to get in more exercise. When we first started running it was a mix of walking and jogging – walking between two marker posts on the side of the road, then jogging the next one. We slowly built up to the point where it was jog all the way, then running non-stop for an hour or more. We both realised how much we were enjoying running, not only as a way to help us lose weight but also as a stress reliever and a way to get out an enjoy the outdoors. The first big race which we both entered was The Goat Tongariro in December 2012 and by this point we had lost a combined total of 45kg, Maggie having lost 20kg and Kat 25kg. We were both really nervous not just about the 21km distance of the race but also about the terrain at the amount of vertical climb involved. We both finished and we both finished eager to enter more trail running races. Over the past two and half years or so we have been unstoppable – together we have run The Goat Tongariro twice more, The Goat Kaimai, the Xterra Auckland Trail Series and the Taupo half marathon. Kat ran and won the Routeburn Classic this year and Maggie has just returned from China after running the Great Wall of China Half Marathon on a trip organised by the team at Marathon World Travel. We are always on the lookout for new, unique and adventurous trail runs and will both continue to inspire each other to take on fresh challenges.

“Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated”