At 40, Woman Takes Up Running In The Desert
- By News
- Published Nov. 8, 2011
- Updated Nov. 8, 2011 at 11:26 AM UTC
She decided to make some life changes.
The number 40, age-wise, can force many people to look in the mirror and commit to doing something different with themselves. In the case of New Zealand native Megan Stewart, who, at the time, weighed 94 kilograms (207 pounds) this entailed taking up running.
Specifically, it meant running an ultramarathon the middle of the desert.
“I wasn’t happy within myself,” she recalls. “I was a busy mum doing two jobs. The days were long and there was no real time for me.”
After taking up running, Stewart lost a staggering 22 kilograms (nearly 49 pounds).
“I was overweight and unfit . . . and I didn’t want to be old, fat and miserable,” she says.
Stewart’s first race was the Taupo challenge, a 100K ultra that she walked to raise money for the charity Oxfam.
The concept of actually running an ultra came to her when she noticed an ultra runner, Lisa Tamati, training at a local gym. Lisa called Stewart and asked her to crew for her next event.
Crewing for the ultra meant learning how to run. “I’d never run, I’d always said I couldn’t and I had bad knees but it was because I was fat,” she says.
For More: Taranaki Daily News
FILED UNDER: News TAGS: 100k / desert running / inspirational stories / mid-life criss / New Zealand / running to lose weight / Taupo Challenge / Weight Loss
