#whywerun - Monica Dixon

Monica Dixon | Endurance Athlete

My name is Monica and I didn’t start running until my late 20’s (which means only a couple of years ago). My parents always made sure I was active and as a kid I went to swimming and dance lessons. I didn’t pay much attention to them and I was not particularly good at either until one day one of the girls in the ballet class told me ‘I couldn’t do anything’ - probably because I can also be very lazy sometimes. I was a small and shy 7 years old girl back then but I remember very clearly that a fire lit up inside me and I told myself I would be the best ballerina I could be. Years passed and I achieved what I had set myself to, eventually dancing for the Youth National Dance Company for several years. I believe I still have that same fire of wanting to better myself through hard work and that really keeps me motivated on those days when running is not so appealing.
 
I eventually quit dancing to study and I spent most of my 20’s not doing much sport but I did have a desire to experience the world, go on adventures and discover new places. I lived in Brazil and I went backpacking across India for six months. That sense of adventure and exploration is the reason I started running once I came back and settled down. Even though it was around the local forest, that first jog got me out and it was a means of being in nature, feeling free and alive.

A few months later I was still running on the local trails just for fun but soon after I found my perfect challenge: the Half Marathon des Sables - a 120km multi-stage race through the desert in self-sufficiency, with the longest stage being 55km long. Although I’m sure many people saw this as an impulsive, rather foolish thing to do for someone who had not even ran a half marathon at the time of signing up (and they were probably right!) this was clearly my true self coming into action, that small girl with big dreams and a desire to explore the world.

"that small girl with big dreams and a desire to explore the world"

I spent the next nine months following a structured training and receiving lots of advice from experienced runners and I fell in love with the process of training and having a goal in mind. Last September (2019) I became a finisher of the HalfMDS, not without my fair share of days doubting myself and a lot of hard work during those previous months. It was however the most amazing, tough and crazy adventure and I can’t wait for more!