Runner sets sights on trial number 10

By Justin Robertson
FIFTY-YEAR-OLD Nicky Brown has just returned from the Gold Coast after completing a marathon. While most people would be thrilled at finishing one during their lifetime, Brown has her sights set on the Sydney marathon coming up in September.
That will be her 10th marathon in 16 years.
“Every time I do a marathon, there’s usually a reason why,” she said. “The Sydney one will be pretty special, it will my 10th and Sydney’s 10th anniversary in 2010. So it’s pretty unique.”
Originally from England, the Endeavour Hills fitness instructor has completed the Melbourne Williams-town and Canberra marathons.
“It’s the only activity I’ve done that will break me physically and mentally,” Brown said. “But then the reward is the journey from training to getting the medal around your neck. Then it’s all forgotten and you are planning the next one. It’s a bit frightening that way.”
Brown is no stranger in what to expect from the gruelling 42 kilometres and dedicates four months of the year to training for each marathon.
When she is in training mode, most Saturday mornings you’ll catch her running through the Endeavour Hills region, a 30-kilometre circuit she devised. Her long run would start in and around the main streets including James Cook Drive, out onto Fox Road in Narre Warren, up towards the Hallam Pub and another circuit of the main street area.
“It’s about having a general plan and to be flexible with illness and working schedules, but it’s about deciding on a goal that you want and training for it,” Brown said. “Anyone can do it, I’m not anything special, but the only special thing I do is I make a decision to run and commit to it.”
Brown has spent the past 22 years working at Endeavour Hills Leisure Centre and dedicates her time educating patrons on the finer details of marathon running among other fitness challenges.
Her first marathon in 1994, Brown concedes she was ill-prepared and lacked preparation for the Melbourne marathon.
“Looking back now I realise how naive about running I was, I didn’t have anyone to teach me how to train for a marathon, which was inadequate, but still got there,” she said. “I was extremely nervous about the race, but knew I just wanted to finish and get there.”
Nine marathons later Brown is one step away from becoming a “Spartan” a term used in running circles for a runner who has completed 10 marathons.
With the Sydney Marathon her next immediate challenge, Brown wants to attempt her first international race, by competing in the London Marathon next April.
“Running 10 marathons has always been a main goal and the support from other runners and family spurs me on,” she said. “I’d like to keep running and I think I’ll be doing it till the day I can’t do it any more.”