Natasha Sneddon never imagined she’d be a runner... and was embarrassed to even walk her first parkrun. Yet somehow, one step at a time, she found herself racking up over 100 parkruns, training with a coach, and lining up for the Sydney Marathon in honour of her late grandfather.
Along the way, running became more than exercise. It became connection, purpose, and a way to navigate the emotional weight of having Huntington’s disease in her family. As a sleep researcher and PhD student working in this area, Natasha’s running life and academic life have begun to intertwine in powerful ways.
In this episode, Joshie and Matty sit down with Natasha to talk about family legacy, the fear and pride of fundraising for a cause, and negative splitting her first marathon despite a very specific race plan.
In this episode:
- From reluctant beginner to 100 parkruns
- How running helped overcome depression
- Living with Huntington’s disease in the family
- How her PhD research intersects with her running
- Running the 2025 Sydney Marathon in honour of her grandfather
- What purpose-driven running looks like for her future
If you'd like to following Natashs's journey click here => https://linktr.ee/njsneddon?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=02c213e4-955f-4315-941c-6731346aa7e4
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joshie (00:14):
You ran the Sydney Marathon this year in honour of
your grandfather.
What did that day mean to you?
Natasha (00:21):
Yeah, that was a really big day.
Definitely wouldn't be anunderstatement to say it was
life-changing.
Joshie (00:30):
Hello everybody and welcome to Unbelievable, the
podcast where everyday runnersshare their not-so everyday
stories.
I'm your host, Josh Trichin,and I'm here to bring you
stories of grit, glory, andovercoming adversity.
Each episode we'll dive deepinto what first got people
running and what keeps themlacing up day after day.
From the laughs and the lessonsto modified e-bikes on running
(00:51):
tracks, we're here to share whatmakes running a truly human
experience.
And coming up in just a fewmoments, you'll meet a runner
who's combining passion withpurpose and achieving some
incredible results in theprocess.
I really can't wait to chatwith her.
Maddie, welcome back.
Christmas is approaching.
And oh mate, what if what areyou hoping that Santa has is in
(01:14):
his running sack for you?
Matty (01:16):
Um if if anyone knows me, uh they probably know I'm a bit
of a shoe geek.
So I think what I am predictingis with all the sales with the
Adidas Pro 4s, is the Pro 5s aregoing to come out shortly.
So I want pre-release for myChristmas present.
Um there's another one I foundtoday as well, which is coming
out, which is the uh Adidas XPrime Evo, and that was actually
(01:41):
developed and designed to runum a hundred kilometer ultra uh
marathon.
Um, and the guy that wore themactually, I think, did it
exceptionally well.
Um, and they're basing it offthe shoe, so I wouldn't mind
having a crack at them.
Joshie (01:54):
So, in case the listeners haven't noticed,
Maddie's gradually trying toevolve this into a shoe podcast.
Uh well, hopefully, Maddie, allthose Christmas wishes come
true for you.
And what about you, Josh?
What are you what are youlooking for for Christmas?
Oh gosh, I don't know.
Um what would be would be agood Christmas present is to be
(02:15):
able to run pain free.
I've been uh battling a coupleof things.
I've got my Achilles um nigglethat hasn't quite gone away.
And at the moment, I haven'ttold you this.
I've got this like um splinteror thorn that's wedged in the
bottom of my foot.
I've had it for about a week ornearly a week, and I was
outside gardening barefoot, andI felt something just like go in
(02:36):
there and not come out.
So I actually can't likeproperly run on that part of the
foot, out of the foot.
So I'm kind of running veryslightly on the outside of my
right foot.
I've um I'm actually off to thedoctor this afternoon to
hopefully get it so I can runpain-free again.
So that that would be aChristmas present and a half.
So yeah, that'd be great.
Um now look, Maddie, it's timefor the Unbelievable rundown
(03:00):
where we share highlights,mishaps, misadventures, crazy
sights and sounds, little wins,basically the kind of stuff that
harnesses the human side of it.
And you know what frustratesme, or one of many things that
frustrates me, paying for eventphotos.
Okay.
I always do.
(03:20):
Well, I know you always do.
Did you you didn't even vote inthe poll that I did the other
day, did you?
Matty (03:27):
I don't think so.
Joshie (03:30):
You know, I know that our Instagram page isn't
brilliant, but you're allowed tolook at it from time to time.
Matty (03:34):
Yeah, no, I am, and I'm I'm on to it.
I'm looking at it daily now,hence I hence I sent you some
some stuff today.
So that's true.
Yeah, so I'm on board that.
Joshie (03:44):
Yeah.
Um, I know you always pay.
I I never do.
Um for me, it's a case of Ifeel as though the cost of
registration is already so highto pay another 50, 60 plus
dollars.
I don't know.
So I did a poll and we actuallyhad a really, really good uh
(04:04):
response to this one.
Um I'll just read it out now.
So we had I had three optionseither yep, always pay, uh only
pay if I don't look rubbish inthe photos, or the third option
was no, that's what friends arefor.
Uh good mix of results.
We had 19% that said yep, theyalways pay for photos, so that
would be yourself, Matty.
If you'd voted that wouldprobably bring out 41%.
(04:24):
Um roughly half.
So 48% said only if they don'tlook rubbish in the photos.
And uh roughly a third uh uhlike myself think that that's
what friends are for.
So yeah.
Okay, interesting.
Yeah.
I sort of well's not thatinteresting, I just thought that
I'd mention it.
Matty (04:44):
Um if you get in early on though on those things, they're
they're fairly reasonable.
Joshie (04:52):
Um you know, so realistically though, of the 50
odd photos that you get, howmany do you usually treasure?
Matty (04:59):
I don't use them or treasure them.
I have albums um within myphone that are based around each
run.
So um it could be all sorts ofphotos.
Photos I've taken, photos fromthe race, um, you know, just to
capture those moments of thoseevents because um, you know, we
we train hard, we run hard, andI want to remember them.
Joshie (05:20):
So yeah, I can understand that.
I'll tell you what though,geez, nothing tops Crystal
having to pay for a photo thatthey use for promotional
purposes.
Matty (05:30):
I think well I'm in I'm in an advert for Gold Coast, um
Gold Coast Marathon.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I pointed it out to you.
I said, that's me.
When it said 55,000 plusrunners attended, and I'm like,
there I am.
Do you know something?
Joshie (05:43):
Yeah, yeah, it you have to like zoom in to like Yeah,
that's right.
But it's me, Josh.
I take it, I take it, it's me.
So um, oh very good.
Oh geez, I'm sorry we're um ourguest is probably getting
horrendously frustrated.
Although she's still she'sstill there, so she hasn't given
(06:04):
up the job yet.
I can say that she's darnclose.
So look, if um oh, actually,there is one thing I did want to
mention, and this is with thewhole paid photo thing.
Um, it's why I love some ofthose smaller events and even
Parkrun.
Parkrun, you get some awesomephotos that they can take.
Um yeah, I don't know if youremember though, Maddie.
Uh a few weeks ago now therewas a photo that was taken of me
(06:26):
at Parkrun.
I'll tell you what, I wasconscious of the photographer
being there, so I'm like, I'mgonna run with my absolute best
run form.
Matty (06:33):
And you were watching all day for it to be posted.
Joshie (06:36):
Yeah, do you remember it's like you could just see the
back of my heel, bottom left offrame.
I'm gonna find the photo andand post it at some point
because it is it is hilariousthat that was done.
Uh that that that was thephoto, the only photo they got
of me that day, but there isproof that at least part of an
Adidas Pro 4 made it into thatphoto.
(06:58):
So look, if you've gotsomething that you would like to
contribute to the RunBelievable rundown, then send it
our way.
Today's guest never imaginedshe'd be a runner at all, let
alone someone who'd rack up ahundred park runs and even
bigger challenges.
Her journey has since evolvedinto deriving meaning, passion,
and purpose all at the sametime.
(07:20):
She's a sleep researcher, a PhDstudent, and very openly not a
morning person.
Can we please all welcomeNatasha Sneddon?
Welcome, Natasha.
And she's fresh off her veryfirst trail event, uh half
marathon trail event, I believe.
How how did that go?
Natasha (07:41):
That was really fun.
Um, so I wrapped up on the dayuh with a heap injury, haven't
been running properly for a fewweeks, and I get there and no
pain at all.
Um, able to just give it mybest go, and you know, you're
immersed in nature as well.
Vibes are good, and there'sjust so much food.
I mean, you get a sizzle at theend.
Joshie (08:04):
Really?
Natasha (08:04):
Yeah.
Joshie (08:05):
Oh my gosh.
That's good.
See, I've never done a trailevent.
I've got no idea what they'reum what they're like.
I hear they're well supported,but just the next thing.
Natasha (08:16):
You go road, trail, and then try.
Joshie (08:20):
I'll stick with road.
Did I see recently um uh so nNatasha, I found you through uh
through Instagram um some youknow an incredibly inspirational
story, which we'll come to in amoment, but did I see that not
long ago you were sort of toyingwith the idea of a sprint try
at some point?
Natasha (08:38):
Uh yeah, so um I found out that McRae Uni are able to
sponsor me to do it um throughtheir uni sport competition.
And honestly, I've wanted totry a sprint for a really long
time.
Um and a sprint, um, for thosethat don't know is just like
much shorter than a normaltriathlon.
Um, it's a good way to give ita go.
Okay.
And yeah, I've with the injuryanyway, I wanted to cycle and
(09:02):
swim more um to sort of takethat pressure off my hip.
Um, so yeah.
Joshie (09:09):
Now you said that you never imagined that you'd run,
and from memory said that youwere even embarrassed to walk
your first park run.
Can you take us back to thatmoment and when it all changed
for you?
Natasha (09:23):
Um, yeah, so I just kept hearing about this parkrun
thing from um my massagetherapist Sandy.
Shout out to her.
And um then I went on this tripto the Gold Coast, and there
was lots of parkrun signs, andI'm just like, why do I keep
seeing this parkrun?
Matty (09:40):
It's a sign, yeah.
Natasha (09:42):
So yeah, I was so nervous um to go because I'm
like, I just want to walk it,and it's called Park Run.
Um, so I get there to walk itand I was late.
Um back then I was always latebecause you know, not a morning
person.
I had to jog to catch up to thetailwalker, and that was where
(10:03):
I was kind of like, huh, thisisn't actually so bad.
Matty (10:07):
Yeah.
I think I think it's theunknown with with Parkrun, for
instance, when you hear about itand you're like, I want to go,
you always have theseimpressions that um they're
gonna be this like fast racewith you know all these elite
people.
Well, that's that's what Ipicture anyway.
Um, and it's not until you goand you it's like, oh, this is
awesome.
Joshie (10:26):
Yeah.
So how quickly, Natasha, didyour perception of parkrun
change?
Did it take a couple or was itwere you hooked on that first
after that first go?
Natasha (10:34):
I think I was actually hooked straight away.
Joshie (10:37):
So how long ago was that that you completed your first
park run?
Natasha (10:41):
That was nearly three years ago now, next month.
Joshie (10:44):
Yeah, okay.
Natasha (10:46):
Can't believe it.
Joshie (10:47):
You're now at over a hundred park runs?
Natasha (10:50):
110 last Saturday.
Matty (10:52):
Oh, fantastic.
You're catching up to me.
Yeah.
I've done 20.
Joshie (11:02):
Um Natasha, you um did this put together this lovely
post when you hit um 100parkruns, and it was a a really
beautiful tribute that you paidnot just to parkrun but the
community that sort of supportsit.
Um what did that milestone meanto you?
Natasha (11:19):
Um, I guess like I'm like you said, I'm so grateful
to that community.
Um, so my local parkrun isMount Penang Parkrun.
Um, and funny enough, they callthemselves Nangers is a cult.
That's sort of their slogan.
Joshie (11:32):
Okay.
Natasha (11:34):
And that's because it is like you go there and
everyone's there saying hi toyou, everyone's supportive, and
it's hard to not go back.
Um I guess you feel like you'rea part of something bigger.
Um then in saying that, I'vebeen to I think more than 35
parkruns now, like differentparkruns, um, some over in
(11:54):
Europe, and pretty much everyparkrun's the same.
Um, like a big standout was inGermany.
I went to this parkrun, I wentand had breakfast, and the core
team just waved me over and theywere like, No, you're one of
us, you're sitting with us.
Um, we're gonna chat to you.
And I just struggled to believethat.
Honestly, it was so great.
Matty (12:12):
Oh wow.
It's incredible, yeah.
Yeah.
Joshie (12:16):
The running community is so good.
See, I haven't had muchexposure to in fact, I haven't
run a single park run overseas,and I think I have anyhow.
Um I guess yeah, you don't youdon't really know until you you
head over there what thecommunity will will be like and
how welcoming and supportivethey'll be.
I mean, it doesn't surprise methat they that they'd be
(12:36):
supportive.
Um was it just the one inGermany that you did, or would
you have a chance to do a few?
Natasha (12:42):
I just did one in Germany, um Oberwald.
Um, and then I did two inEngland, um, Bushy for the 20th
anniversary.
Matty (12:53):
Um that was only was that this year?
Natasha (12:56):
No, last year.
Joshie (12:58):
Last year, yeah, okay.
I can't believe you've donebushy geez.
I think that's when everyone inthe park run bucket list, isn't
it?
That was the first one, isn'tit?
It was, yeah.
How what was it like?
Natasha (13:07):
Well, so it was busy, obviously.
I can't remember how manypeople, but um, I was a few
thousand, that was like myposition, so you know, not up
there.
Um, and it was beautiful.
There was there were stags, um,and I'd never really seen like
deer before.
So it was just so amazing to bethat close to deer.
Joshie (13:30):
Yeah.
Natasha (13:30):
Yeah.
Joshie (13:31):
Okay.
You know, you you mentioned thatyou um started running
initially for a combination ofphysical and mental health.
Um can you take us back to whatlife was like before running
and the benefits that runninghas um that that you've been
able to derive from running?
Natasha (13:48):
Yeah, um, so before running I was overweight, um, I
was depressed.
Um, and yeah, I know we hearthis a lot, but running um
helped me feel healthier um andmeet new people and feel part of
a community.
So it was good for both myphysical and mental health.
Joshie (14:09):
It is fantastic.
I mean, you say that uh youhear it a lot, but there's only
one of you, and I think that'swhat we need to remember that
our our journeys are very muchabout uh ourselves, and it's
yeah, I think it can be a bitrisky to compare and contrast
other people's experiencesbecause at the end of the day,
um, you know, it's it's ininherently individual what our
(14:30):
experiences and our journeyslike.
Um so how would you describe umhow how running sort of
features and fits into your lifenow?
Natasha (14:39):
I'm addicted.
Um really hard to be injured.
Um let's put it that way,because I was running like four
to five days a week um only afew weeks ago, um, about 45
kilometers.
Um, usually later in theevening, just because I don't
wake up early.
Um I don't like to miss it.
(15:02):
I call it my non-negotiablebecause it is what makes me
happy.
Um, if I do it, I feel like I'mproductive and I'm more likely
to do other things as well.
Yeah.
Um yeah, but um the last fewweeks have really challenged
that.
So I've been trying out someswimming um and cycling.
Yeah.
Matty (15:22):
As Josh mentioned, as you mentioned, Josh, it's different
for everyone, but if you put ablanket over it, I think, um, in
terms of I'll stay away fromthe the physical health because
that that naturally comes.
But in terms of mental health,I was told for many years that
you know, uh, you need toexercise, it'll make you, you
know, it'll help with yourmental health, that sort of
thing.
And I was like, it's not gonnahelp.
(15:43):
Um, and it wasn't until youstart running, and you look at
like like thinking blanketly,you look at um the benefits of
running, and there's there'smass amounts of benefits, but
that feeling good and feelinggood about yourself, and um, you
know, it's it's the best.
Joshie (16:00):
Yeah, it certainly is.
Now uh Natasha Huntington'sdisease is a big part of your
family story.
For the benefit of listeners,can you take some time to
explain what it is?
Natasha (16:14):
Yeah.
Um, so Huntington's is agenetic disease.
Um, it's also rare, so onlyabout 10 in 100,000 people in
Australia have it.
Um and being genetic, um, so mygranddad had Huntington's, so
there was a 50% chance that myat-risk parent would have
inherited.
(16:35):
Uh, and because he didn't, Ialso don't have Huntington, so
it doesn't skip generations.
Okay.
And in terms of symptoms, it'slike primarily a motor disorder.
So um people have jerkymovements and something called
chorea, so it kind of looks likethey're dancing because of the
movements.
Um, but it's also aneurodegenerative disease, so it
(16:57):
affects people's cognition andtheir mood as well and
behaviour.
Joshie (17:02):
Okay.
Um, you know, I've spent acouple of moments before the
call trying to understand whatit is.
It sounds like there are somesimilarities with um motor
neuron disease, but I get thesense that, you know, to the
uneducated like myself, withsomething like this, they look
similar, but to someone that'ssort of knee-deep in it, um,
like yourself, you'd you'dprobably point out that they're
(17:23):
actually quite um differentconditions.
Natasha (17:25):
Well, um people often describe it as a mix of um motor
neuron disease, Alzheimer's andParkinson's, so it's probably
not a fair um fair call to seethings like that.
Joshie (17:37):
And so how how prevalent has Huntington's disease been
in your family?
Natasha (17:42):
Yeah, um, so five of my uncles have it, um, and a lot
of my cousins, and a lot of themhaven't tested yet either, so
they don't know if they have itor not, um, which is a common
personal choice because it doeschange your life if you do, and
it can be hard to face thatthat's you know what's
happening, that's how you'regoing to die.
(18:04):
Yeah.
Matty (18:06):
Is it fatal, is it?
Natasha (18:07):
It's a neurodegenerative disease.
So um yeah, like I don't knowhow to answer that.
It's as fatal as Alzheimer's.
Joshie (18:17):
Can you um talk to us a little bit more about your um
your research then and how itintersects with with
Huntington's disease?
Natasha (18:26):
Yes, I'm researching sleep disturbances in
Huntington's.
So I've just finished my Masterof Research thesis, um, and
basically that was looking athow prevalent sleep disturbances
are in Huntingtons.
Um, and we found thatperiodically movements in sleep,
so um, I guess like that'srelating back to the jerky
(18:48):
movements, maybe, um, were quiteprevalent.
Um, like a third of people withHuntingtons get those.
Um, sleep medications, a lot ofthem are taking sleep
medication for insomnia.
Um, another that's a third ofpeople as well, and um, people
reporting um poor sleep quality,um, and there's about 60% who
you know say I have bad sleep.
(19:10):
So um that's the starting, howI've started.
Um, and then I've just startedmy PhD and going to continue
that work by doing sleepstudies, um, particularly
looking at um high densityelectroencephalography, which I
know it's a really big word, butbasically people are going to
(19:30):
wear these caps in their sleep.
There's 256 electrodes umcompared to a normal sleep
study, which only has eight, wejust want to look at the whole
brain, um, see what's going on,see if anything's changing um
even before the symptomatic.
Um, and it could give us a goodidea of what's going on in the
brain, how we can treat that umand hopefully improve people's
(19:52):
lives.
Joshie (19:53):
You said that the prevalence was, did you say 10
in a hundred thousand people?
So if if we don't if there'snot many people that are living
with Huntington's uh disease, uhdoes that make it challenging
from a research perspective tounderstand the uh patterns of
sleep disturbances?
Natasha (20:14):
Um yeah, so definitely harder to find people to
research because in research youneed a certain number of
participants to find like topower the study statistically,
um, which means basically theyget reliable results.
Um there are uh clinics aroundAustralia that um look at people
(20:34):
with Huntingtons regularly, sothey do yearly checkups and
things um that I'll probably berecruiting from.
Joshie (20:42):
Yeah.
So what's the lead time?
This must be multi-years ofwork ahead of you.
Natasha (20:49):
Yeah, um generally it's three to four years to do a
PhD.
Joshie (20:53):
Oh wow.
Yeah.
And then going through doesthat include the peer review
process and everything thathappens after that?
Natasha (21:00):
Probably not.
Joshie (21:04):
Um now you obviously started your running journey
with park runs and very quicklyset some more ambitious goals.
You ran the Sydney Marathonthis year in honour of your
grandfather.
Um what did that um what didthat day mean to you?
Natasha (21:22):
Yeah, that was a really big day.
Um definitely wouldn't be anunderstatement to say it was
life-changing.
Um so I was raising money forHuntington's disease and had
raised about a thousand dollarsleading up to the marathon.
Um and it was so scary, like itwas my first marathon.
(21:45):
Um and I didn't want to letanyone down when I'd raise who
I'd raised their part of me,who'd helped me to raise money.
Um, and it ended up beingreally motivating, and I ended
up receiving more donations forHuntingtons while running, um,
just trickling in.
Matty (22:04):
Oh, that's so cool.
Natasha (22:06):
Yeah, especially around the hard bits of the course,
which was really motivating.
So 17 to 25 kilometers.
Uh it was really sunny and hot,and everyone knows that it's
difficult around, or maybe it'smore difficult around 30Ks, but
difficult around that halfwaypoint, knowing okay, I've got to
do another half marathon.
And yeah, I think I ended upraising $2,014 for Huntingtons,
(22:32):
so wow.
That's yeah, that's great.
And sorry, I didn't get thequestion uh about my granddad.
Um yeah, so yeah, I thoughtabout him a lot.
Um, he passed away when I wasum 18 and um he never knew that
I'd run.
So I just thought, what wouldhe say?
(22:53):
Um obviously he'd be proud, butyou know, probably this is
nuts, right?
But yeah, he was definitely inmy thoughts.
Joshie (23:03):
I mean, if you're proud of you for a number of reasons,
I mean, not just that you'vesort of picked up running, but
that you ran in his honor andyou know have uh raised funds
for a of such a cause that'sclose and personal to your to
your heart and that you're nowsort of furthering that through
your research.
Um that's that's huge.
(23:24):
That's a beautiful story,Natasha.
I have a technical question.
How did you know you weregetting donations during the
run?
Natasha (23:30):
Oh, right.
My watch was connected to mywell, to my phone, which had my
email pop-up.
So I was receiving emails and Iwas seeing it on my watch, and
it was something like $200, andit was just showing up really
briefly, but enough that I waslike, wow, that's another
donation.
Joshie (23:51):
Oh wow.
So did you find that ummotivating or was there an
element of pressure as well?
Natasha (24:01):
Um yeah, like before the marathon, there was a bit of
pressure because I was kind oflike, can I really do a
marathon?
Um, I'm gonna actually show upnow and run.
And I can't back out, but Ithink that's a good thing,
right?
Um yeah, I'd say moremotivating because yeah, I was
struggling a bit with chafing atthe half marathon and it was
(24:23):
hot, and I'd just gotta keepgoing because people still don't
know me.
Yeah.
Um and I never actually really Iran the whole thing and I never
really considered walking, um,which was insane because my
training was a bit um smallermileage, so I didn't expect it
to go so well.
Um we didn't, yeah.
(24:50):
He he messaged me in themorning and he was like,
remember to bank energy, not umpace or something like that.
Yeah, yeah.
And he was like, Yeah, likeseven minute pace, because our
goal time was five hours.
Yeah, yeah.
And my first call was like 640pace, and I was sort of like,
okay, I've already gone out abit too fast.
(25:11):
Um, and then I get to the halfmarathon um at two hours and
sixteen minutes, so a little bitahead of schedule.
But um, yeah, he did me becauseI ended up, you know, backing
myself up and I did a fastersecond half.
(25:33):
So yeah.
Joshie (25:35):
Wow.
It's pretty impressive to gofrom having a goal pace seven
minutes a K, you went out at 640pace, and even finished with a
negative split.
Natasha (25:49):
Yeah, so I finished in four hours twenty-five, fourteen
seconds.
So more than half an hour.
Matty (25:58):
Are you hooked on marathons now?
Natasha (26:00):
So for a long time I was thinking no.
Um, I was like, I've done mymarathon, that was what I wanted
to do.
I gave it a go.
It went well.
I don't think I'll have abetter experience.
And then the Melbourne marathonballot comes.
Yeah, yeah, I um have gotten aspot in Melbourne next year.
Matty (26:19):
And then um, I'm doing the half in Melbourne, and I've
got Gold Coast full as well.
Natasha (26:28):
Yeah, so I saw Gold Coast as well, and at that point
I was like, what's wrong withtwo marathons in one year?
What can go wrong?
So I'm doing the double at GoldCoast too.
Matty (26:38):
Oh, that's awesome.
The half and the full.
Oh, the 60, 62.3 kilometers.
Natasha (26:44):
Yeah, 63.
Joshie (26:47):
Natasha, like you you know how how hard it is to go
from uh starting at zero interms of running to doing what
you're doing, but you'veobviously put in in the work and
those hard yards.
What did your training uhregime look like for Sydney?
Natasha (27:04):
Um, yeah, so it's really funny because at the
start I think I didn't know whatI was getting myself into.
My mileage was about 20kilometres a week.
I thought that was a lot at thetime.
Um, I contacted my coach likenine weeks before the marathon,
which most people would know isnot enough time.
Um eight weeks was fine, um,but in retrospect, you need to
(27:32):
give them like 16 weeks minimum.
But yeah.
Um yeah, so we were runningfour times a week and building
um on the long runs.
And the coach had me runningSaturday a smaller long run and
then Sunday a longer long run.
Um, so I thought that backed uplong run was really good
(27:55):
because then I was alwaysrunning on tired legs.
Um and yeah, our longest longrun was only 25 kilometers,
which really stressed me out umbefore the marathon because I
kept reading online.
If you don't run 30Ks, youcan't do a marathon, you're
gonna struggle.
Um, so that's not true for therecord.
(28:16):
But um yeah, and we did some umwork at like um 530 pace.
Um, so just intervals.
And it was, I'm not really surewhat the purpose of it, but in
the actual marathon, in thesecond half, like the last 10ks,
I really drew on thoseintervals and I was kind of
like, my legs feel like they didback when I was training, they
(28:39):
feel that heaviness.
Um I tapped into that and Iended up running the last 10k at
it was actually 540, but itfelt like 5.30.
Wow.
Um yeah, so I guess I knew Icould because that's what we had
trained.
So that was good.
Joshie (28:54):
Wow.
What was your nutrition like onthe day?
Natasha (28:57):
Um, I had a lot of gels um compared to the average
person.
I was having a gel every 25minutes, and I was mixing up the
pure and mortarn gels.
Um, they didn't want to havejust one type of gel because um
I didn't want to get sick of itbasically, sick of the you know,
(29:17):
flavoring.
Sure.
Um and I went in with one waterflask in my pocket, um, so I
could kind of drink whenever Iwanted.
I could skip the first fewwater stations, which was great
because people were juststopping and it was kind of a
nightmare around those waterstations.
(29:38):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
You tripping other people.
Yeah, and I definitely didn'tskip breakfast.
I can't remember exactly what Ihad though.
Um, but it would have beencereal and a little bit of like
some berries.
Um swear by berries, and theyjust make you feel better.
Okay.
(29:59):
Um but yeah, um, yeah, I hateseeing when people say that they
skip breakfast because that'swhat that's your feel.
But yeah.
Joshie (30:07):
Yeah.
Going forward with your runninggo, I mean it's amazing, you've
sort of gone from having uhticked a a marathon off the
bucket list thinking that'sgonna be it to signing up pretty
much everything.
Now, will you continue to torun for uh um for Huntingtons,
or is that something whereyou're sort of like, you know, I
(30:27):
might actually just focus on umlike you know personal goals
rather than running for a cause?
Natasha (30:33):
I'm definitely not closed off to the idea of doing
it again, um, especially if um Ihave my heart set on doing
London Marathon one day.
And so I've thought about maybea charity place with the
Huntingtons Association over inthe UK.
Um, so that's definitelysomething I've thought about.
It's on my radar, but I'll justsee where life takes me for
(30:56):
now.
Joshie (30:56):
When you sign up to an event, the there's all these
different charities that youhave to um to choose from.
But yeah, I wasn't sure if it'ssomething that you know
potentially down the track, um,you know, you you might look
into uh helping to influencethat, those events, because I
think it would be awesome tohave an opportunity through your
(31:16):
work to raise the profile of umof Huntington's.
Natasha (31:20):
Yeah, that's actually crossed my mind.
Like Huntington's Australia isa fairly new organization that's
brought together all theseparate states into a national
body.
Okay.
I did notice that they don'thave specific places in the
marathon like the overseas umthe UK Huntington's branch has.
So like they actually have awhole team of people that go do
(31:43):
London marathon.
Um, so perhaps there is adifference in terms of awareness
or support over there.
Maybe the disease is morecommon.
I don't actually know.
Joshie (31:55):
So what does running mean to you now?
How would you describe where itfits into your life?
Natasha (32:01):
Um, like it means a lot because I was depressed and I
didn't know I had ADHD backthen.
Yeah, I was really lost, andthen I guess running gave me
purpose, and it wasn't somethingI ever thought I'd stick with.
Um I thought it was just gonnabe a new hobby.
I stuck I did for a week ortwo, but I kept showing up.
Joshie (32:20):
What made you keep showing up?
A lot of people talk aboutrunning being so hard and
feeling so wiped that they justdon't you know, they don't want
to go back to it.
What made you keep showing up?
Natasha (32:30):
I think it was that sense of achieving something.
I think I really I really likeum maybe because I I with the
depression I always felt like Ican't do things.
And then it was that's thatchallenging that kind of thought
and actually doing it.
Joshie (32:52):
Overcoming self-doubt to some extent.
Natasha (32:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Joshie (32:56):
Do you find it too?
Matty (32:57):
It's it's um like you do something and you go, holy shit,
I didn't know I could do that.
I didn't know my body was evencapable of that.
Natasha (33:05):
Yeah.
Um maybe, let's be honest, Idon't really you already know
this Josh don't really getrunners high, but um but
probably there are someendorphins and serotonin and
dopamine that that's probablygot me hooked.
Joshie (33:22):
Yeah.
Is it possible?
And this might sound like I'mchallenging what you're saying,
but I promise I'm not.
Is it possible that you doexperience runners high but you
just don't label it as such?
Natasha (33:33):
Yes, yeah, it's possible.
It's like not not impossible.
Joshie (33:39):
Those are real researchers that you um have you
found though that with runningthe in terms of like I said
before, overcoming self-doubt,that it's had benefits in other
facets of life.
Natasha (33:57):
Yeah, um, it's helped with connections with friends
and with my partner, um, becausefriends have started coming
along to Parkrun as well.
And you have like this littlecommunity within a community, so
we would always have our littlebreakfast date after Parkrun.
Um, so it's a good way to spendtime with people.
Joshie (34:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And if you found that they'reconnections that you can see
yourself uh maintaining for youknow for years to come.
Natasha (34:26):
Yeah, definitely.
Joshie (34:28):
You know, Matt and I met through running and you know we
formed a wonderful friendshipnow with a podcast.
I mean, it's it's somethingthat yeah, you kind of need to
go through that experience torealise that um you know you you
actually can build truecommunity and connections
through through running.
I mean, obviously as a sportit's fantastic, but Matt said it
(34:50):
a few on a few episodes thatthe benefits are typically much
broader than you know being ableto uh feel like your aerobic
capacity increases.
I think if you were to ask mostrunners, they'd go, oh yeah,
yeah, I suppose that stuff isthere as well, the physical
benefits, but it's not for mostpeople what keeps them going.
It's not what keeps me going.
You know, do you are youfinding yourself wanting to
(35:11):
raise the bar higher and highernow?
Natasha (35:14):
I do, and I'm so torn because I want to work on the
smaller distances, like 5k, 10kspeed, but I also want to work
on going longer.
Um, like it would be so awesometo try an ultra one day.
Um the trails, the trail run Idid recently was really fun, and
I could see that being reallyfun to explore too, because
(35:36):
being I know I just said beingout in nature earlier was great,
but it's also more challenging.
Um, you're trying to avoidstepping on rocks, trying not to
trip on tree branches.
Um, you've got to think a lotmore, and I thought that was
really um interesting and feltreally fulfilling to try.
Joshie (35:54):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's reallyinteresting.
Uh yeah.
Matty (35:58):
Oh, you go ahead, Maddie.
No, I was just gonna say it'svery di different, isn't it?
And I'm sure I'll ask you,Natasha.
Um, like when you do a trailrun, especially what you've just
done the half marathon, howwere your legs the next day?
Natasha (36:11):
Yeah, um, I don't know why, but my legs are fine.
Uh but my shoulders reallyhurt.
Okay.
Um really hurting from the vestbecause I don't normally run
with the vests.
Oh, okay.
And I definitely I feel taughtabout it because I definitely
(36:33):
needed it.
I went through I had about athousand one liter of water on
me and I drank through thattwice.
Um I needed that.
Um and then I mean, even thoughmy legs are okay, my right foot
got battered from some rocks.
So I have a blood blister undermy toe.
Okay.
Matty (36:53):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I've just found before whenI run on trails the next day,
like I have muscles aching thatI didn't even know were there.
So it it it obviously itaffects different muscles to
your your uh road running whereyou're in more of more of a
rhythm.
So yeah.
Natasha (37:10):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Joshie (37:12):
I don't know how you'd go on trails, Maddie.
I mean you find yourselfgetting all sorts of weird and
wonderful injuries on the road.
Matty (37:19):
Yeah, and I'd probably wear some bloody some racing
shoes that aren't suited.
I have no doubt that you would.
Joshie (37:29):
Yeah, a lot of people who who s who go from um running
road to running trail reallyfind it difficult that
concentration aspect that youmentioned, Natasha, because road
running is often very rhythmicand you get into a zone and you
don't have to be as um uhcognizant of what's going on uh
around you and you knowespecially for trail running, uh
(37:52):
you'd be having to you knowpretty much watch every step.
I mean, depending on howtechnical the terrain is.
I mean, do you find that umthat mentally it's more
fatiguing?
Natasha (38:00):
Uh yeah, definitely.
So um my legs weren't reallytired for whatever reason, maybe
because I haven't ran properlyin three weeks, but um but in
that last kilometer of the trailrun, I kept um twisting my
ankle on rocks, and I don'tthink it was actually any harder
in that section than it hadbeen earlier, but I think my
(38:21):
brain was just really tired, soum, it just couldn't really um
think about where to stepanymore.
Um and yeah, I had to fully payattention to everything.
Um, and that's why like in halfmy photos I'm actually looking
down um because I was so scaredof tripping.
Yeah.
Joshie (38:41):
Now, every runner unfortunately goes through this
a moment where we either DNF orin your case recently um you
weren't able to make it to thestart line for a 10k that I know
you've been really lookingforward to and training hard
for.
What what was that like goingthrough that experience?
Natasha (38:56):
That was a really hard decision to make um because I
haven't had a good 10k prettymuch ever.
And I had trained for itreally, and I thought that I was
set for sure to get the PB Ireally want for the 10K.
Um, and it's actually it'll bea big PB, it'll be like three or
(39:16):
four minutes um because that'show I never go well in the 10K.
Um but yeah, I decided to justkind of look after my hip
because honestly, it was hurtingto walk.
So the thought of running 10kwas just like I'm gonna really
hurt myself, I'm not gonna berunning again for even longer,
and sitting out for even oneweek was too difficult.
Joshie (39:39):
Oh.
I didn't realise it was at thatstage where it was hurting you
to even walk.
Natasha (39:45):
Yeah, um, it was at that stage.
Um, it's already better, soit's only like a zero to one at
the moment out of ten.
Joshie (39:53):
So it sounds like you've been quite measured and quite
sensible in your um I guess youryour recovery and
rehabilitation from from thatinjury.
I mean, did did you did youhave it diagnosed or is it just
self management?
Natasha (40:06):
Um, I did go to a physio, um, and they checked
everything.
They said the range ofmovement's good, but um It was
it's a tender, I think, formuscle imbalance.
So um she cleared me to do that10k, but it was me that sort of
decided, yeah, I don't thinkthis is worth it, you know.
Joshie (40:26):
I guess you've got plenty of years ahead of you
running wise and you know, Ithink making that short-term
sacrifice for longer term gainis perhaps the best thing that
you've done.
So look, before we we finishup, Natasha, of the all the
goals that you've got on thehorizon, um what what's the one
that you would say sort of sitsatop on the mantelpiece or
something that you're strivingtowards?
Natasha (40:48):
Let's be honest, that 10k, I've got unfinished
business, so that's um that's upthere, but I don't know when
I'll have the opportunity to doit.
Um especially now it's summer,so I guess I'll be waiting until
March next year.
Matty (41:05):
Yeah, race season.
Natasha (41:06):
Yeah.
Joshie (41:08):
Well, you might find that your coach will give you a
a B race, uh, a 10k hit out'snot un overly uncommon when
training for a marathon, somaybe that's your your chance to
to um give it a crack.
And look, um uh Natasha, anyfinal thoughts or things you
wanted to mention before wefinish up?
Natasha (41:25):
Yeah, um, I just want to say thank you to my
shout-outs.
Go for it.
Yeah, go for it.
Yeah, thank you to the Nangers,my Mount for Nang Parkrun
people, because they're honestlylike the most supportive group
ever.
Um, thank you to everyone whodonated to the fundraiser.
Um, obviously it means a lot,and you helped make it what it
was.
Um, thank you to my coach Zachfor doing an amazing job
(41:49):
training me for the marathon, mypartner for coming with me on
long runs, my supervisors forhelping me with my research, and
all my other family andfriends, because like my uncle
especially, who was verysupportive, sending me messages
during the marathon.
And yeah, thank you.
Joshie (42:09):
That's awesome.
Uh that's good.
Natasha, thanks for taking thetime to chat with us today.
Your um selfless devotion to acause that's greater than your
own uh makes us truly inspiredto do more.
Um, we've had an absolute blastspeaking with you.
Thank you.
Matty (42:24):
Yeah, thanks, Natasha.
Natasha (42:25):
Thanks for having me.
Joshie (42:27):
Well, Maddie, I don't know about you, but I'm truly
blown away by Natasha's story.
Matty (42:31):
Yeah, brilliant story.
I I think um what she did atSydney Marathon in terms of,
first of all, her firstmarathon, first time it's a
world major, and raising moneyfor something that means um so
much to her and so close to herfamily.
I think that's brilliant.
Have you ever run for a cause?
No, I haven't.
Joshie (42:51):
Do you know what I think could you know what the cause I
think could be good for you?
The clumsy eye injury societyof Queen.
Matty (42:58):
I'm the president and only member.
Joshie (43:03):
Let's close out for today.
Uh, if you've got a RunBelievable story of your own,
we'd love to hear it.
And if you're interested inbeing a guest on the show, then
hit us up.
Finally, this podcast relies onyour continued support.
So if you can please take thetime to follow Rate and share it
with your running mates, we'dreally appreciate it, and we'll
see you for the next RunBelieveable Adventure.
Matty (43:30):
President only ever.
You ran the Sydney Marathon this year in honour of
your grandfather.
What did that day mean to you?
Natasha (00:21):
Yeah, that was a really big day.
Definitely wouldn't be anunderstatement to say it was
life-changing.
Joshie (00:30):
Hello everybody and welcome to Unbelievable, the
podcast where everyday runnersshare their not-so everyday
stories.
I'm your host, Josh Trichin,and I'm here to bring you
stories of grit, glory, andovercoming adversity.
Each episode we'll dive deepinto what first got people
running and what keeps themlacing up day after day.
From the laughs and the lessonsto modified e-bikes on running
(00:51):
tracks, we're here to share whatmakes running a truly human
experience.
And coming up in just a fewmoments, you'll meet a runner
who's combining passion withpurpose and achieving some
incredible results in theprocess.
I really can't wait to chatwith her.
Maddie, welcome back.
Christmas is approaching.
And oh mate, what if what areyou hoping that Santa has is in
(01:14):
his running sack for you?
Matty (01:16):
Um if if anyone knows me, uh they probably know I'm a bit
of a shoe geek.
So I think what I am predictingis with all the sales with the
Adidas Pro 4s, is the Pro 5s aregoing to come out shortly.
So I want pre-release for myChristmas present.
Um there's another one I foundtoday as well, which is coming
out, which is the uh Adidas XPrime Evo, and that was actually
(01:41):
developed and designed to runum a hundred kilometer ultra uh
marathon.
Um, and the guy that wore themactually, I think, did it
exceptionally well.
Um, and they're basing it offthe shoe, so I wouldn't mind
having a crack at them.
Joshie (01:54):
So, in case the listeners haven't noticed,
Maddie's gradually trying toevolve this into a shoe podcast.
Uh well, hopefully, Maddie, allthose Christmas wishes come
true for you.
And what about you, Josh?
What are you what are youlooking for for Christmas?
Oh gosh, I don't know.
Um what would be would be agood Christmas present is to be
(02:15):
able to run pain free.
I've been uh battling a coupleof things.
I've got my Achilles um nigglethat hasn't quite gone away.
And at the moment, I haven'ttold you this.
I've got this like um splinteror thorn that's wedged in the
bottom of my foot.
I've had it for about a week ornearly a week, and I was
outside gardening barefoot, andI felt something just like go in
(02:36):
there and not come out.
So I actually can't likeproperly run on that part of the
foot, out of the foot.
So I'm kind of running veryslightly on the outside of my
right foot.
I've um I'm actually off to thedoctor this afternoon to
hopefully get it so I can runpain-free again.
So that that would be aChristmas present and a half.
So yeah, that'd be great.
Um now look, Maddie, it's timefor the Unbelievable rundown
(03:00):
where we share highlights,mishaps, misadventures, crazy
sights and sounds, little wins,basically the kind of stuff that
harnesses the human side of it.
And you know what frustratesme, or one of many things that
frustrates me, paying for eventphotos.
Okay.
I always do.
(03:20):
Well, I know you always do.
Did you you didn't even vote inthe poll that I did the other
day, did you?
Matty (03:27):
I don't think so.
Joshie (03:30):
You know, I know that our Instagram page isn't
brilliant, but you're allowed tolook at it from time to time.
Matty (03:34):
Yeah, no, I am, and I'm I'm on to it.
I'm looking at it daily now,hence I hence I sent you some
some stuff today.
So that's true.
Yeah, so I'm on board that.
Joshie (03:44):
Yeah.
Um, I know you always pay.
I I never do.
Um for me, it's a case of Ifeel as though the cost of
registration is already so highto pay another 50, 60 plus
dollars.
I don't know.
So I did a poll and we actuallyhad a really, really good uh
(04:04):
response to this one.
Um I'll just read it out now.
So we had I had three optionseither yep, always pay, uh only
pay if I don't look rubbish inthe photos, or the third option
was no, that's what friends arefor.
Uh good mix of results.
We had 19% that said yep, theyalways pay for photos, so that
would be yourself, Matty.
If you'd voted that wouldprobably bring out 41%.
(04:24):
Um roughly half.
So 48% said only if they don'tlook rubbish in the photos.
And uh roughly a third uh uhlike myself think that that's
what friends are for.
So yeah.
Okay, interesting.
Yeah.
I sort of well's not thatinteresting, I just thought that
I'd mention it.
Matty (04:44):
Um if you get in early on though on those things, they're
they're fairly reasonable.
Joshie (04:52):
Um you know, so realistically though, of the 50
odd photos that you get, howmany do you usually treasure?
Matty (04:59):
I don't use them or treasure them.
I have albums um within myphone that are based around each
run.
So um it could be all sorts ofphotos.
Photos I've taken, photos fromthe race, um, you know, just to
capture those moments of thoseevents because um, you know, we
we train hard, we run hard, andI want to remember them.
Joshie (05:20):
So yeah, I can understand that.
I'll tell you what though,geez, nothing tops Crystal
having to pay for a photo thatthey use for promotional
purposes.
Matty (05:30):
I think well I'm in I'm in an advert for Gold Coast, um
Gold Coast Marathon.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I pointed it out to you.
I said, that's me.
When it said 55,000 plusrunners attended, and I'm like,
there I am.
Do you know something?
Joshie (05:43):
Yeah, yeah, it you have to like zoom in to like Yeah,
that's right.
But it's me, Josh.
I take it, I take it, it's me.
So um, oh very good.
Oh geez, I'm sorry we're um ourguest is probably getting
horrendously frustrated.
Although she's still she'sstill there, so she hasn't given
(06:04):
up the job yet.
I can say that she's darnclose.
So look, if um oh, actually,there is one thing I did want to
mention, and this is with thewhole paid photo thing.
Um, it's why I love some ofthose smaller events and even
Parkrun.
Parkrun, you get some awesomephotos that they can take.
Um yeah, I don't know if youremember though, Maddie.
Uh a few weeks ago now therewas a photo that was taken of me
(06:26):
at Parkrun.
I'll tell you what, I wasconscious of the photographer
being there, so I'm like, I'mgonna run with my absolute best
run form.
Matty (06:33):
And you were watching all day for it to be posted.
Joshie (06:36):
Yeah, do you remember it's like you could just see the
back of my heel, bottom left offrame.
I'm gonna find the photo andand post it at some point
because it is it is hilariousthat that was done.
Uh that that that was thephoto, the only photo they got
of me that day, but there isproof that at least part of an
Adidas Pro 4 made it into thatphoto.
(06:58):
So look, if you've gotsomething that you would like to
contribute to the RunBelievable rundown, then send it
our way.
Today's guest never imaginedshe'd be a runner at all, let
alone someone who'd rack up ahundred park runs and even
bigger challenges.
Her journey has since evolvedinto deriving meaning, passion,
and purpose all at the sametime.
(07:20):
She's a sleep researcher, a PhDstudent, and very openly not a
morning person.
Can we please all welcomeNatasha Sneddon?
Welcome, Natasha.
And she's fresh off her veryfirst trail event, uh half
marathon trail event, I believe.
How how did that go?
Natasha (07:41):
That was really fun.
Um, so I wrapped up on the dayuh with a heap injury, haven't
been running properly for a fewweeks, and I get there and no
pain at all.
Um, able to just give it mybest go, and you know, you're
immersed in nature as well.
Vibes are good, and there'sjust so much food.
I mean, you get a sizzle at theend.
Joshie (08:04):
Really?
Natasha (08:04):
Yeah.
Joshie (08:05):
Oh my gosh.
That's good.
See, I've never done a trailevent.
I've got no idea what they'reum what they're like.
I hear they're well supported,but just the next thing.
Natasha (08:16):
You go road, trail, and then try.
Joshie (08:20):
I'll stick with road.
Did I see recently um uh so nNatasha, I found you through uh
through Instagram um some youknow an incredibly inspirational
story, which we'll come to in amoment, but did I see that not
long ago you were sort of toyingwith the idea of a sprint try
at some point?
Natasha (08:38):
Uh yeah, so um I found out that McRae Uni are able to
sponsor me to do it um throughtheir uni sport competition.
And honestly, I've wanted totry a sprint for a really long
time.
Um and a sprint, um, for thosethat don't know is just like
much shorter than a normaltriathlon.
Um, it's a good way to give ita go.
Okay.
And yeah, I've with the injuryanyway, I wanted to cycle and
(09:02):
swim more um to sort of takethat pressure off my hip.
Um, so yeah.
Joshie (09:09):
Now you said that you never imagined that you'd run,
and from memory said that youwere even embarrassed to walk
your first park run.
Can you take us back to thatmoment and when it all changed
for you?
Natasha (09:23):
Um, yeah, so I just kept hearing about this parkrun
thing from um my massagetherapist Sandy.
Shout out to her.
And um then I went on this tripto the Gold Coast, and there
was lots of parkrun signs, andI'm just like, why do I keep
seeing this parkrun?
Matty (09:40):
It's a sign, yeah.
Natasha (09:42):
So yeah, I was so nervous um to go because I'm
like, I just want to walk it,and it's called Park Run.
Um, so I get there to walk itand I was late.
Um back then I was always latebecause you know, not a morning
person.
I had to jog to catch up to thetailwalker, and that was where
(10:03):
I was kind of like, huh, thisisn't actually so bad.
Matty (10:07):
Yeah.
I think I think it's theunknown with with Parkrun, for
instance, when you hear about itand you're like, I want to go,
you always have theseimpressions that um they're
gonna be this like fast racewith you know all these elite
people.
Well, that's that's what Ipicture anyway.
Um, and it's not until you goand you it's like, oh, this is
awesome.
Joshie (10:26):
Yeah.
So how quickly, Natasha, didyour perception of parkrun
change?
Did it take a couple or was itwere you hooked on that first
after that first go?
Natasha (10:34):
I think I was actually hooked straight away.
Joshie (10:37):
So how long ago was that that you completed your first
park run?
Natasha (10:41):
That was nearly three years ago now, next month.
Joshie (10:44):
Yeah, okay.
Natasha (10:46):
Can't believe it.
Joshie (10:47):
You're now at over a hundred park runs?
Natasha (10:50):
110 last Saturday.
Matty (10:52):
Oh, fantastic.
You're catching up to me.
Yeah.
I've done 20.
Joshie (11:02):
Um Natasha, you um did this put together this lovely
post when you hit um 100parkruns, and it was a a really
beautiful tribute that you paidnot just to parkrun but the
community that sort of supportsit.
Um what did that milestone meanto you?
Natasha (11:19):
Um, I guess like I'm like you said, I'm so grateful
to that community.
Um, so my local parkrun isMount Penang Parkrun.
Um, and funny enough, they callthemselves Nangers is a cult.
That's sort of their slogan.
Joshie (11:32):
Okay.
Natasha (11:34):
And that's because it is like you go there and
everyone's there saying hi toyou, everyone's supportive, and
it's hard to not go back.
Um I guess you feel like you'rea part of something bigger.
Um then in saying that, I'vebeen to I think more than 35
parkruns now, like differentparkruns, um, some over in
(11:54):
Europe, and pretty much everyparkrun's the same.
Um, like a big standout was inGermany.
I went to this parkrun, I wentand had breakfast, and the core
team just waved me over and theywere like, No, you're one of
us, you're sitting with us.
Um, we're gonna chat to you.
And I just struggled to believethat.
Honestly, it was so great.
Matty (12:12):
Oh wow.
It's incredible, yeah.
Yeah.
Joshie (12:16):
The running community is so good.
See, I haven't had muchexposure to in fact, I haven't
run a single park run overseas,and I think I have anyhow.
Um I guess yeah, you don't youdon't really know until you you
head over there what thecommunity will will be like and
how welcoming and supportivethey'll be.
I mean, it doesn't surprise methat they that they'd be
(12:36):
supportive.
Um was it just the one inGermany that you did, or would
you have a chance to do a few?
Natasha (12:42):
I just did one in Germany, um Oberwald.
Um, and then I did two inEngland, um, Bushy for the 20th
anniversary.
Matty (12:53):
Um that was only was that this year?
Natasha (12:56):
No, last year.
Joshie (12:58):
Last year, yeah, okay.
I can't believe you've donebushy geez.
I think that's when everyone inthe park run bucket list, isn't
it?
That was the first one, isn'tit?
It was, yeah.
How what was it like?
Natasha (13:07):
Well, so it was busy, obviously.
I can't remember how manypeople, but um, I was a few
thousand, that was like myposition, so you know, not up
there.
Um, and it was beautiful.
There was there were stags, um,and I'd never really seen like
deer before.
So it was just so amazing to bethat close to deer.
Joshie (13:30):
Yeah.
Natasha (13:30):
Yeah.
Joshie (13:31):
Okay.
You know, you you mentioned thatyou um started running
initially for a combination ofphysical and mental health.
Um can you take us back to whatlife was like before running
and the benefits that runninghas um that that you've been
able to derive from running?
Natasha (13:48):
Yeah, um, so before running I was overweight, um, I
was depressed.
Um, and yeah, I know we hearthis a lot, but running um
helped me feel healthier um andmeet new people and feel part of
a community.
So it was good for both myphysical and mental health.
Joshie (14:09):
It is fantastic.
I mean, you say that uh youhear it a lot, but there's only
one of you, and I think that'swhat we need to remember that
our our journeys are very muchabout uh ourselves, and it's
yeah, I think it can be a bitrisky to compare and contrast
other people's experiencesbecause at the end of the day,
um, you know, it's it's ininherently individual what our
(14:30):
experiences and our journeyslike.
Um so how would you describe umhow how running sort of
features and fits into your lifenow?
Natasha (14:39):
I'm addicted.
Um really hard to be injured.
Um let's put it that way,because I was running like four
to five days a week um only afew weeks ago, um, about 45
kilometers.
Um, usually later in theevening, just because I don't
wake up early.
Um I don't like to miss it.
(15:02):
I call it my non-negotiablebecause it is what makes me
happy.
Um, if I do it, I feel like I'mproductive and I'm more likely
to do other things as well.
Yeah.
Um yeah, but um the last fewweeks have really challenged
that.
So I've been trying out someswimming um and cycling.
Yeah.
Matty (15:22):
As Josh mentioned, as you mentioned, Josh, it's different
for everyone, but if you put ablanket over it, I think, um, in
terms of I'll stay away fromthe the physical health because
that that naturally comes.
But in terms of mental health,I was told for many years that
you know, uh, you need toexercise, it'll make you, you
know, it'll help with yourmental health, that sort of
thing.
And I was like, it's not gonnahelp.
(15:43):
Um, and it wasn't until youstart running, and you look at
like like thinking blanketly,you look at um the benefits of
running, and there's there'smass amounts of benefits, but
that feeling good and feelinggood about yourself, and um, you
know, it's it's the best.
Joshie (16:00):
Yeah, it certainly is.
Now uh Natasha Huntington'sdisease is a big part of your
family story.
For the benefit of listeners,can you take some time to
explain what it is?
Natasha (16:14):
Yeah.
Um, so Huntington's is agenetic disease.
Um, it's also rare, so onlyabout 10 in 100,000 people in
Australia have it.
Um and being genetic, um, so mygranddad had Huntington's, so
there was a 50% chance that myat-risk parent would have
inherited.
(16:35):
Uh, and because he didn't, Ialso don't have Huntington, so
it doesn't skip generations.
Okay.
And in terms of symptoms, it'slike primarily a motor disorder.
So um people have jerkymovements and something called
chorea, so it kind of looks likethey're dancing because of the
movements.
Um, but it's also aneurodegenerative disease, so it
(16:57):
affects people's cognition andtheir mood as well and
behaviour.
Joshie (17:02):
Okay.
Um, you know, I've spent acouple of moments before the
call trying to understand whatit is.
It sounds like there are somesimilarities with um motor
neuron disease, but I get thesense that, you know, to the
uneducated like myself, withsomething like this, they look
similar, but to someone that'ssort of knee-deep in it, um,
like yourself, you'd you'dprobably point out that they're
(17:23):
actually quite um differentconditions.
Natasha (17:25):
Well, um people often describe it as a mix of um motor
neuron disease, Alzheimer's andParkinson's, so it's probably
not a fair um fair call to seethings like that.
Joshie (17:37):
And so how how prevalent has Huntington's disease been
in your family?
Natasha (17:42):
Yeah, um, so five of my uncles have it, um, and a lot
of my cousins, and a lot of themhaven't tested yet either, so
they don't know if they have itor not, um, which is a common
personal choice because it doeschange your life if you do, and
it can be hard to face thatthat's you know what's
happening, that's how you'regoing to die.
(18:04):
Yeah.
Matty (18:06):
Is it fatal, is it?
Natasha (18:07):
It's a neurodegenerative disease.
So um yeah, like I don't knowhow to answer that.
It's as fatal as Alzheimer's.
Joshie (18:17):
Can you um talk to us a little bit more about your um
your research then and how itintersects with with
Huntington's disease?
Natasha (18:26):
Yes, I'm researching sleep disturbances in
Huntington's.
So I've just finished my Masterof Research thesis, um, and
basically that was looking athow prevalent sleep disturbances
are in Huntingtons.
Um, and we found thatperiodically movements in sleep,
so um, I guess like that'srelating back to the jerky
(18:48):
movements, maybe, um, were quiteprevalent.
Um, like a third of people withHuntingtons get those.
Um, sleep medications, a lot ofthem are taking sleep
medication for insomnia.
Um, another that's a third ofpeople as well, and um, people
reporting um poor sleep quality,um, and there's about 60% who
you know say I have bad sleep.
(19:10):
So um that's the starting, howI've started.
Um, and then I've just startedmy PhD and going to continue
that work by doing sleepstudies, um, particularly
looking at um high densityelectroencephalography, which I
know it's a really big word, butbasically people are going to
(19:30):
wear these caps in their sleep.
There's 256 electrodes umcompared to a normal sleep
study, which only has eight, wejust want to look at the whole
brain, um, see what's going on,see if anything's changing um
even before the symptomatic.
Um, and it could give us a goodidea of what's going on in the
brain, how we can treat that umand hopefully improve people's
(19:52):
lives.
Joshie (19:53):
You said that the prevalence was, did you say 10
in a hundred thousand people?
So if if we don't if there'snot many people that are living
with Huntington's uh disease, uhdoes that make it challenging
from a research perspective tounderstand the uh patterns of
sleep disturbances?
Natasha (20:14):
Um yeah, so definitely harder to find people to
research because in research youneed a certain number of
participants to find like topower the study statistically,
um, which means basically theyget reliable results.
Um there are uh clinics aroundAustralia that um look at people
(20:34):
with Huntingtons regularly, sothey do yearly checkups and
things um that I'll probably berecruiting from.
Joshie (20:42):
Yeah.
So what's the lead time?
This must be multi-years ofwork ahead of you.
Natasha (20:49):
Yeah, um generally it's three to four years to do a
PhD.
Joshie (20:53):
Oh wow.
Yeah.
And then going through doesthat include the peer review
process and everything thathappens after that?
Natasha (21:00):
Probably not.
Joshie (21:04):
Um now you obviously started your running journey
with park runs and very quicklyset some more ambitious goals.
You ran the Sydney Marathonthis year in honour of your
grandfather.
Um what did that um what didthat day mean to you?
Natasha (21:22):
Yeah, that was a really big day.
Um definitely wouldn't be anunderstatement to say it was
life-changing.
Um so I was raising money forHuntington's disease and had
raised about a thousand dollarsleading up to the marathon.
Um and it was so scary, like itwas my first marathon.
(21:45):
Um and I didn't want to letanyone down when I'd raise who
I'd raised their part of me,who'd helped me to raise money.
Um, and it ended up beingreally motivating, and I ended
up receiving more donations forHuntingtons while running, um,
just trickling in.
Matty (22:04):
Oh, that's so cool.
Natasha (22:06):
Yeah, especially around the hard bits of the course,
which was really motivating.
So 17 to 25 kilometers.
Uh it was really sunny and hot,and everyone knows that it's
difficult around, or maybe it'smore difficult around 30Ks, but
difficult around that halfwaypoint, knowing okay, I've got to
do another half marathon.
And yeah, I think I ended upraising $2,014 for Huntingtons,
(22:32):
so wow.
That's yeah, that's great.
And sorry, I didn't get thequestion uh about my granddad.
Um yeah, so yeah, I thoughtabout him a lot.
Um, he passed away when I wasum 18 and um he never knew that
I'd run.
So I just thought, what wouldhe say?
(22:53):
Um obviously he'd be proud, butyou know, probably this is
nuts, right?
But yeah, he was definitely inmy thoughts.
Joshie (23:03):
I mean, if you're proud of you for a number of reasons,
I mean, not just that you'vesort of picked up running, but
that you ran in his honor andyou know have uh raised funds
for a of such a cause that'sclose and personal to your to
your heart and that you're nowsort of furthering that through
your research.
Um that's that's huge.
(23:24):
That's a beautiful story,Natasha.
I have a technical question.
How did you know you weregetting donations during the
run?
Natasha (23:30):
Oh, right.
My watch was connected to mywell, to my phone, which had my
email pop-up.
So I was receiving emails and Iwas seeing it on my watch, and
it was something like $200, andit was just showing up really
briefly, but enough that I waslike, wow, that's another
donation.
Joshie (23:51):
Oh wow.
So did you find that ummotivating or was there an
element of pressure as well?
Natasha (24:01):
Um yeah, like before the marathon, there was a bit of
pressure because I was kind oflike, can I really do a
marathon?
Um, I'm gonna actually show upnow and run.
And I can't back out, but Ithink that's a good thing,
right?
Um yeah, I'd say moremotivating because yeah, I was
struggling a bit with chafing atthe half marathon and it was
(24:23):
hot, and I'd just gotta keepgoing because people still don't
know me.
Yeah.
Um and I never actually really Iran the whole thing and I never
really considered walking, um,which was insane because my
training was a bit um smallermileage, so I didn't expect it
to go so well.
Um we didn't, yeah.
(24:50):
He he messaged me in themorning and he was like,
remember to bank energy, not umpace or something like that.
Yeah, yeah.
And he was like, Yeah, likeseven minute pace, because our
goal time was five hours.
Yeah, yeah.
And my first call was like 640pace, and I was sort of like,
okay, I've already gone out abit too fast.
(25:11):
Um, and then I get to the halfmarathon um at two hours and
sixteen minutes, so a little bitahead of schedule.
But um, yeah, he did me becauseI ended up, you know, backing
myself up and I did a fastersecond half.
(25:33):
So yeah.
Joshie (25:35):
Wow.
It's pretty impressive to gofrom having a goal pace seven
minutes a K, you went out at 640pace, and even finished with a
negative split.
Natasha (25:49):
Yeah, so I finished in four hours twenty-five, fourteen
seconds.
So more than half an hour.
Matty (25:58):
Are you hooked on marathons now?
Natasha (26:00):
So for a long time I was thinking no.
Um, I was like, I've done mymarathon, that was what I wanted
to do.
I gave it a go.
It went well.
I don't think I'll have abetter experience.
And then the Melbourne marathonballot comes.
Yeah, yeah, I um have gotten aspot in Melbourne next year.
Matty (26:19):
And then um, I'm doing the half in Melbourne, and I've
got Gold Coast full as well.
Natasha (26:28):
Yeah, so I saw Gold Coast as well, and at that point
I was like, what's wrong withtwo marathons in one year?
What can go wrong?
So I'm doing the double at GoldCoast too.
Matty (26:38):
Oh, that's awesome.
The half and the full.
Oh, the 60, 62.3 kilometers.
Natasha (26:44):
Yeah, 63.
Joshie (26:47):
Natasha, like you you know how how hard it is to go
from uh starting at zero interms of running to doing what
you're doing, but you'veobviously put in in the work and
those hard yards.
What did your training uhregime look like for Sydney?
Natasha (27:04):
Um, yeah, so it's really funny because at the
start I think I didn't know whatI was getting myself into.
My mileage was about 20kilometres a week.
I thought that was a lot at thetime.
Um, I contacted my coach likenine weeks before the marathon,
which most people would know isnot enough time.
Um eight weeks was fine, um,but in retrospect, you need to
(27:32):
give them like 16 weeks minimum.
But yeah.
Um yeah, so we were runningfour times a week and building
um on the long runs.
And the coach had me runningSaturday a smaller long run and
then Sunday a longer long run.
Um, so I thought that backed uplong run was really good
(27:55):
because then I was alwaysrunning on tired legs.
Um and yeah, our longest longrun was only 25 kilometers,
which really stressed me out umbefore the marathon because I
kept reading online.
If you don't run 30Ks, youcan't do a marathon, you're
gonna struggle.
Um, so that's not true for therecord.
(28:16):
But um yeah, and we did some umwork at like um 530 pace.
Um, so just intervals.
And it was, I'm not really surewhat the purpose of it, but in
the actual marathon, in thesecond half, like the last 10ks,
I really drew on thoseintervals and I was kind of
like, my legs feel like they didback when I was training, they
(28:39):
feel that heaviness.
Um I tapped into that and Iended up running the last 10k at
it was actually 540, but itfelt like 5.30.
Wow.
Um yeah, so I guess I knew Icould because that's what we had
trained.
So that was good.
Joshie (28:54):
Wow.
What was your nutrition like onthe day?
Natasha (28:57):
Um, I had a lot of gels um compared to the average
person.
I was having a gel every 25minutes, and I was mixing up the
pure and mortarn gels.
Um, they didn't want to havejust one type of gel because um
I didn't want to get sick of itbasically, sick of the you know,
(29:17):
flavoring.
Sure.
Um and I went in with one waterflask in my pocket, um, so I
could kind of drink whenever Iwanted.
I could skip the first fewwater stations, which was great
because people were juststopping and it was kind of a
nightmare around those waterstations.
(29:38):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
You tripping other people.
Yeah, and I definitely didn'tskip breakfast.
I can't remember exactly what Ihad though.
Um, but it would have beencereal and a little bit of like
some berries.
Um swear by berries, and theyjust make you feel better.
Okay.
(29:59):
Um but yeah, um, yeah, I hateseeing when people say that they
skip breakfast because that'swhat that's your feel.
But yeah.
Joshie (30:07):
Yeah.
Going forward with your runninggo, I mean it's amazing, you've
sort of gone from having uhticked a a marathon off the
bucket list thinking that'sgonna be it to signing up pretty
much everything.
Now, will you continue to torun for uh um for Huntingtons,
or is that something whereyou're sort of like, you know, I
(30:27):
might actually just focus on umlike you know personal goals
rather than running for a cause?
Natasha (30:33):
I'm definitely not closed off to the idea of doing
it again, um, especially if um Ihave my heart set on doing
London Marathon one day.
And so I've thought about maybea charity place with the
Huntingtons Association over inthe UK.
Um, so that's definitelysomething I've thought about.
It's on my radar, but I'll justsee where life takes me for
(30:56):
now.
Joshie (30:56):
When you sign up to an event, the there's all these
different charities that youhave to um to choose from.
But yeah, I wasn't sure if it'ssomething that you know
potentially down the track, um,you know, you you might look
into uh helping to influencethat, those events, because I
think it would be awesome tohave an opportunity through your
(31:16):
work to raise the profile of umof Huntington's.
Natasha (31:20):
Yeah, that's actually crossed my mind.
Like Huntington's Australia isa fairly new organization that's
brought together all theseparate states into a national
body.
Okay.
I did notice that they don'thave specific places in the
marathon like the overseas umthe UK Huntington's branch has.
So like they actually have awhole team of people that go do
(31:43):
London marathon.
Um, so perhaps there is adifference in terms of awareness
or support over there.
Maybe the disease is morecommon.
I don't actually know.
Joshie (31:55):
So what does running mean to you now?
How would you describe where itfits into your life?
Natasha (32:01):
Um, like it means a lot because I was depressed and I
didn't know I had ADHD backthen.
Yeah, I was really lost, andthen I guess running gave me
purpose, and it wasn't somethingI ever thought I'd stick with.
Um I thought it was just gonnabe a new hobby.
I stuck I did for a week ortwo, but I kept showing up.
Joshie (32:20):
What made you keep showing up?
A lot of people talk aboutrunning being so hard and
feeling so wiped that they justdon't you know, they don't want
to go back to it.
What made you keep showing up?
Natasha (32:30):
I think it was that sense of achieving something.
I think I really I really likeum maybe because I I with the
depression I always felt like Ican't do things.
And then it was that's thatchallenging that kind of thought
and actually doing it.
Joshie (32:52):
Overcoming self-doubt to some extent.
Natasha (32:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Joshie (32:56):
Do you find it too?
Matty (32:57):
It's it's um like you do something and you go, holy shit,
I didn't know I could do that.
I didn't know my body was evencapable of that.
Natasha (33:05):
Yeah.
Um maybe, let's be honest, Idon't really you already know
this Josh don't really getrunners high, but um but
probably there are someendorphins and serotonin and
dopamine that that's probablygot me hooked.
Joshie (33:22):
Yeah.
Is it possible?
And this might sound like I'mchallenging what you're saying,
but I promise I'm not.
Is it possible that you doexperience runners high but you
just don't label it as such?
Natasha (33:33):
Yes, yeah, it's possible.
It's like not not impossible.
Joshie (33:39):
Those are real researchers that you um have you
found though that with runningthe in terms of like I said
before, overcoming self-doubt,that it's had benefits in other
facets of life.
Natasha (33:57):
Yeah, um, it's helped with connections with friends
and with my partner, um, becausefriends have started coming
along to Parkrun as well.
And you have like this littlecommunity within a community, so
we would always have our littlebreakfast date after Parkrun.
Um, so it's a good way to spendtime with people.
Joshie (34:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And if you found that they'reconnections that you can see
yourself uh maintaining for youknow for years to come.
Natasha (34:26):
Yeah, definitely.
Joshie (34:28):
You know, Matt and I met through running and you know we
formed a wonderful friendshipnow with a podcast.
I mean, it's it's somethingthat yeah, you kind of need to
go through that experience torealise that um you know you you
actually can build truecommunity and connections
through through running.
I mean, obviously as a sportit's fantastic, but Matt said it
(34:50):
a few on a few episodes thatthe benefits are typically much
broader than you know being ableto uh feel like your aerobic
capacity increases.
I think if you were to ask mostrunners, they'd go, oh yeah,
yeah, I suppose that stuff isthere as well, the physical
benefits, but it's not for mostpeople what keeps them going.
It's not what keeps me going.
You know, do you are youfinding yourself wanting to
(35:11):
raise the bar higher and highernow?
Natasha (35:14):
I do, and I'm so torn because I want to work on the
smaller distances, like 5k, 10kspeed, but I also want to work
on going longer.
Um, like it would be so awesometo try an ultra one day.
Um the trails, the trail run Idid recently was really fun, and
I could see that being reallyfun to explore too, because
(35:36):
being I know I just said beingout in nature earlier was great,
but it's also more challenging.
Um, you're trying to avoidstepping on rocks, trying not to
trip on tree branches.
Um, you've got to think a lotmore, and I thought that was
really um interesting and feltreally fulfilling to try.
Joshie (35:54):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's reallyinteresting.
Uh yeah.
Matty (35:58):
Oh, you go ahead, Maddie.
No, I was just gonna say it'svery di different, isn't it?
And I'm sure I'll ask you,Natasha.
Um, like when you do a trailrun, especially what you've just
done the half marathon, howwere your legs the next day?
Natasha (36:11):
Yeah, um, I don't know why, but my legs are fine.
Uh but my shoulders reallyhurt.
Okay.
Um really hurting from the vestbecause I don't normally run
with the vests.
Oh, okay.
And I definitely I feel taughtabout it because I definitely
(36:33):
needed it.
I went through I had about athousand one liter of water on
me and I drank through thattwice.
Um I needed that.
Um and then I mean, even thoughmy legs are okay, my right foot
got battered from some rocks.
So I have a blood blister undermy toe.
Okay.
Matty (36:53):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I've just found before whenI run on trails the next day,
like I have muscles aching thatI didn't even know were there.
So it it it obviously itaffects different muscles to
your your uh road running whereyou're in more of more of a
rhythm.
So yeah.
Natasha (37:10):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Joshie (37:12):
I don't know how you'd go on trails, Maddie.
I mean you find yourselfgetting all sorts of weird and
wonderful injuries on the road.
Matty (37:19):
Yeah, and I'd probably wear some bloody some racing
shoes that aren't suited.
I have no doubt that you would.
Joshie (37:29):
Yeah, a lot of people who who s who go from um running
road to running trail reallyfind it difficult that
concentration aspect that youmentioned, Natasha, because road
running is often very rhythmicand you get into a zone and you
don't have to be as um uhcognizant of what's going on uh
around you and you knowespecially for trail running, uh
(37:52):
you'd be having to you knowpretty much watch every step.
I mean, depending on howtechnical the terrain is.
I mean, do you find that umthat mentally it's more
fatiguing?
Natasha (38:00):
Uh yeah, definitely.
So um my legs weren't reallytired for whatever reason, maybe
because I haven't ran properlyin three weeks, but um but in
that last kilometer of the trailrun, I kept um twisting my
ankle on rocks, and I don'tthink it was actually any harder
in that section than it hadbeen earlier, but I think my
(38:21):
brain was just really tired, soum, it just couldn't really um
think about where to stepanymore.
Um and yeah, I had to fully payattention to everything.
Um, and that's why like in halfmy photos I'm actually looking
down um because I was so scaredof tripping.
Yeah.
Joshie (38:41):
Now, every runner unfortunately goes through this
a moment where we either DNF orin your case recently um you
weren't able to make it to thestart line for a 10k that I know
you've been really lookingforward to and training hard
for.
What what was that like goingthrough that experience?
Natasha (38:56):
That was a really hard decision to make um because I
haven't had a good 10k prettymuch ever.
And I had trained for itreally, and I thought that I was
set for sure to get the PB Ireally want for the 10K.
Um, and it's actually it'll bea big PB, it'll be like three or
(39:16):
four minutes um because that'show I never go well in the 10K.
Um but yeah, I decided to justkind of look after my hip
because honestly, it was hurtingto walk.
So the thought of running 10kwas just like I'm gonna really
hurt myself, I'm not gonna berunning again for even longer,
and sitting out for even oneweek was too difficult.
Joshie (39:39):
Oh.
I didn't realise it was at thatstage where it was hurting you
to even walk.
Natasha (39:45):
Yeah, um, it was at that stage.
Um, it's already better, soit's only like a zero to one at
the moment out of ten.
Joshie (39:53):
So it sounds like you've been quite measured and quite
sensible in your um I guess youryour recovery and
rehabilitation from from thatinjury.
I mean, did did you did youhave it diagnosed or is it just
self management?
Natasha (40:06):
Um, I did go to a physio, um, and they checked
everything.
They said the range ofmovement's good, but um It was
it's a tender, I think, formuscle imbalance.
So um she cleared me to do that10k, but it was me that sort of
decided, yeah, I don't thinkthis is worth it, you know.
Joshie (40:26):
I guess you've got plenty of years ahead of you
running wise and you know, Ithink making that short-term
sacrifice for longer term gainis perhaps the best thing that
you've done.
So look, before we we finishup, Natasha, of the all the
goals that you've got on thehorizon, um what what's the one
that you would say sort of sitsatop on the mantelpiece or
something that you're strivingtowards?
Natasha (40:48):
Let's be honest, that 10k, I've got unfinished
business, so that's um that's upthere, but I don't know when
I'll have the opportunity to doit.
Um especially now it's summer,so I guess I'll be waiting until
March next year.
Matty (41:05):
Yeah, race season.
Natasha (41:06):
Yeah.
Joshie (41:08):
Well, you might find that your coach will give you a
a B race, uh, a 10k hit out'snot un overly uncommon when
training for a marathon, somaybe that's your your chance to
to um give it a crack.
And look, um uh Natasha, anyfinal thoughts or things you
wanted to mention before wefinish up?
Natasha (41:25):
Yeah, um, I just want to say thank you to my
shout-outs.
Go for it.
Yeah, go for it.
Yeah, thank you to the Nangers,my Mount for Nang Parkrun
people, because they're honestlylike the most supportive group
ever.
Um, thank you to everyone whodonated to the fundraiser.
Um, obviously it means a lot,and you helped make it what it
was.
Um, thank you to my coach Zachfor doing an amazing job
(41:49):
training me for the marathon, mypartner for coming with me on
long runs, my supervisors forhelping me with my research, and
all my other family andfriends, because like my uncle
especially, who was verysupportive, sending me messages
during the marathon.
And yeah, thank you.
Joshie (42:09):
That's awesome.
Uh that's good.
Natasha, thanks for taking thetime to chat with us today.
Your um selfless devotion to acause that's greater than your
own uh makes us truly inspiredto do more.
Um, we've had an absolute blastspeaking with you.
Thank you.
Matty (42:24):
Yeah, thanks, Natasha.
Natasha (42:25):
Thanks for having me.
Joshie (42:27):
Well, Maddie, I don't know about you, but I'm truly
blown away by Natasha's story.
Matty (42:31):
Yeah, brilliant story.
I I think um what she did atSydney Marathon in terms of,
first of all, her firstmarathon, first time it's a
world major, and raising moneyfor something that means um so
much to her and so close to herfamily.
I think that's brilliant.
Have you ever run for a cause?
No, I haven't.
Joshie (42:51):
Do you know what I think could you know what the cause I
think could be good for you?
The clumsy eye injury societyof Queen.
Matty (42:58):
I'm the president and only member.
Joshie (43:03):
Let's close out for today.
Uh, if you've got a RunBelievable story of your own,
we'd love to hear it.
And if you're interested inbeing a guest on the show, then
hit us up.
Finally, this podcast relies onyour continued support.
So if you can please take thetime to follow Rate and share it
with your running mates, we'dreally appreciate it, and we'll
see you for the next RunBelieveable Adventure.
Matty (43:30):
President only ever.
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