Mastering the Marathon Since discovering the marathon distance, Natasha Wodak is running some of the best times in her life BY LOUISE HODGSON-JONES LOUISEHODGSONJONES
TODD DUNCAN LOUISEHODGSONJO
IMPACT guest editor, communications and event specialist in Victoria, B.C. MAKEUP/HAIR: FARRAH SANEI CLOTHING: ASICS
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he is strong, competitive, and focused with her sights set on more Canadian records, preferably in her ‘newfound’ distance—the marathon. At 40 Natasha Wodak is in the prime of her running life. Her 13th place finish in the Tokyo Olympic Marathon in 2021— 2:31:41—capped over 18 months of intense training which saw her set a (then) new Canadian HalfMarathon record in Houston in January 2020 (1:09:39) and in December run a 2:26:19 in the Arizona Marathon Project. At the time IMPACT went to press Wodak had just completed the Boston Marathon finishing in 2:35:08, 19th overall and third in her age division. She is looking ahead to another major marathon in the fall, potentially Berlin. And that is just the beginning, she says. The former 10,000 metre track champion enjoys marathon training and has taken to it like a duck to water. “I enjoy the challenge and how different it is than training for track,” she says. The Arizona Project was just her second marathon, her first was in Toronto in 2013. She reflects at that time with mixed emotions and admits that, despite a credible 2:35 finish, things didn’t go well. “It was a difficult time for me, I was going through a divorce, my training wasn’t going well, I wasn’t in the right place mentally or physically and I felt broken.” She got injured—a tear in her pelvis followed by planta fasciitis. “I was turned off the marathon.” Despite this setback she knew she wanted to try another one, but the timing wasn’t right. She set a Canadian record in the 10,000 metres in 2015 sending her to the 2016 Olympics in Rio. ➝
38 I Inspiration Issue I IMPACT MAGAZINE
The former 10,000 metre track champion enjoys marathon training and has taken to it like a duck to water.
