Fast 5 with Merle Want

Merle raised the bat to the crowd recently by completing her 50th marathon! Melbourne was her 51st, and we presented her with a medal after the MM to acknowledge this stellar achievement.  Merle is a font of running wisdom, and iI value our occasional chats about our running philosophies.  I asked her if she was allowed to pass on only one piece of advice to any runner, what would it be.   "To find someone whose advice you trust  (too many cooks spoil the broth) and even more importantly always have fun".   Can't think of a better time or person to tackle this edition of Fast 5!  

How and why did you get into running?

I have always done running in some form or the other. I did athletics at primary school and in high school I played representative hockey. When we immigrated from South Africa to Australia in 1995 I had a very young family, I was working full time and had no family support. To keep my sanity, I used to go out before anyone got up and go for a run mostly 5-10kms.

In about 2000, I sprained my ankle out running and tore some ligaments. As part of my recovery I joined a gym (one of my pet hates). Our legend Jane Sturzaker was assigned to me as my personal trainer. This was an unbelievable omen and the start of the most incredible friendship. She was and still is instrumental in encouraging me to do more with my running.

What does running mean to you?

Running means a lot to me. I have met amazing people and made the most life changing friendships. As I said before, it has kept me sane (some people might not agree with that). In 2007 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Jane and I had been talking about me doing my first marathon so it was decided that as a focus after surgery and through treatment that I would start training for the Melbourne marathon, which I did. I ran Melbourne marathon that year. As you can imagine, the finish was very emotional not only for doing the marathon but achieving it through hardship. I am my own worst enemy, but this showed me that I am a strong person and if you set your mind to something you can achieve it.

How do you manage through things like Covid and injury, when running options are limited?

Covid was dreadful for everyone but again running was a focus and luckily Jane and I live near each other so even when we could only go out for an hour a day for exercise or only exercise in the 5km radius we could run together. We also started doing virtual runs to keep us focused and motivated.

Injuries teach you a lot about yourself. As most of you know I broke my foot in 2017. When I met with the surgeon, he asked me what outcome I wanted after surgery. I told him I want to run marathons. He said that’s fine, but you have to do it my way, so I did, for the next 16 months.

I did everything that he told me and eventually with a walk / run strategy (which I use in my marathons) I got back into running. My first marathon after that was also the Melbourne Marathon and it was my 40th marathon. I cannot explain to you how very emotional that was. My patience and resilience once again showed that my running helps make me a strong person. (I might need to read this again to remind myself the next time I beat myself up).

We see you most Tuesdays and Thursday, but you do a lot more. What other running activities are you part of and how does TRH fit in?

I also run most Tuesday evenings at the Duncan McKinnon Track in Murrumbeena with the Victorian Masters Athletics club. This is for runners over 35 years of age, anyone can join one of their venues and it can be as competitive as you want it to be. There are various events from sprints, middle distances, and long distances, anything from 3km upwards. It is another way of meeting some extraordinary runners who have done amazing things in their running careers and lives. Some of them are still very competitive (putting some of us to shame) but we all have a great time.

I also run the 1st Saturday of each month with the Victorian Road Runners at The Tan where you can do a 4km or 8km time trial. Again, you can make this as competitive as you want or just have a social run. TRH has given me another level of training that I never thought I could achieve, me doing sprint work, you must be joking. I always feel guilty because I feel like I am so old and slow but that is never an issue with the group. I love the way we all support one another. It is an amazing group of people and Paul has been such a supportive coach and friend giving valued advice.

What’s your future in running look like?

I would like to keep on running for as long as I can and hopefully achieve my 100th marathon. I am not a gifted runner. I just plod along but I love being out in the fresh air (even the freezing Melbourne winter mornings), socialising and always having fun.