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Ultra marathon runner and coach Maree Leith began to run, as all runners do, with a single step. It was not an easy step – putting on running shoes for the first time, 10 years ago, and jogging out into the public gaze took guts. She was overweight and self-conscious, and ran at night where no one could see her. She wanted to improve her health, and she stuck with it.
The Stanmore Bay mother tells her story, alongside those of 18 other Kiwi women, to inspire others, in her book called Finding Her Stride.
Farmers who train without being able to get to a gym, women who start walking while recovering from breast cancer and stay-at-home mums fitting in training around family commitments are among those included.
The stories are from women aged in their 30s to 74 years.
“They are short pieces from women who just get it done,” Maree says. “They make it work with what they have. It’s about putting ourselves first, which a lot of us don’t, and when we don’t, our wellbeing misses out.”
It’s Maree’s first book, and she says putting it together, including gathering stories of women’s pinnacle moments in walking or running, has been as testing as any ultra-marathon.
Once the book is published, profits will be donated to the Speed Freaks Charitable Trust, which supports people recovering from addiction through regular walking or running, as well as the Cancer Research Trust NZ.
Getting it published requires crowd funding – a process where you have to reach your target amount, or you get nothing.
So far Maree has around half the money that she must raise by June 28. To donate, visit
www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/7896-making-women-s-running-stories-a-reality
