We’re honoured and excited to be catching up with Canada’s fastest female marathoner, Natasha Wodak, after her brilliant run in the Berlin Marathon on September 25th, 2022. We dug into all the details of that magical day, including some of the challenges she faced in the days leading up to – as well as in the early miles of – the race. We discussed what it feels like to run a 1:28 negative split to smash the Canadian record previously held by Malindi Elmore, and why you might consider this strategy for your next race. We nerd out on her mind-blowing splits of that 2:23:12 result, she tells us about finding (and compensating!) her pacer Tony, and we hear about many of the incredible people on her support team.
Natasha has quite the running resume over her two plus decades in the sport. She is a two-time Olympian (Rio 2016: 10000m in 31:53; Tokyo 2021: 13th place in marathon) and has represented Canada at numerous World Championships in the 10000m as well as cross country. She tells us how she’s managed to keep it fun and fresh over the years, and whether or not there is any pressure associated with the title, “Canadian Record Holder.”
After recording this interview, Natasha was officially selected to Team Canada for the 2023 World Athletics Championships for the marathon in Budapest this summer and she won the First Half half marathon in Vancouver in a time of 1:10:17. From our vantage point, she is well-poised to earn a spot on our 2024 Paris Olympic team, and her next goal will be to secure the standard of 2:26:50 at the London Marathon in April.
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