“I am stronger than I think I am. Mentally, physically.” – Misty May- Treanor
Are you ready to restart your running after months of inactivity?
We are pleased to talk to three wonderful women runners from Thailand to understand how running a marathon shaped their lives.
You can also read the interviews of other women runners from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
1. Nattanat Kuhatanasathien
Bio: 44-years-old, Business Owner
Nattanat grew up in a family of 4 siblings, she is the fourth. When she was young, she liked to play sports, but as an adult, she does not often exercise because of work.
Now she works as a manager in a finance company in Bangkok, and her daily life is a drinking party. One day, her friend invited her to Mini Marathon activities. Even though she hadn’t run for such a long time, she still could run.
After running, she found out that running is one of her happiest things to do! Today, she loves to run as it makes her take care of herself by going to fewer parties, and she can make people around her join her for a run.
RS: Running a marathon is a tough sport to pursue. What gives you the determination to continue to pursue running as your sport?
Nattanat: I like to run for long distance because I don’t have to run fast as I can concentrate, problem-solve and plan during the run.
RS: As a female runner, what is the main factor to train as an marathoner?
Nattanat: I feel afraid of running endlessly. Therefore, I must practice running during the marathon practice period to allow me to have the most endurance.
RS: Throughout your running journey, how do you deal with your hardships?
Nattanat: I don’t feel tough during my journey because the key to the joy of long-term running is the determination to finish the race. So, I do not think that it is difficult.
Marathon creates happiness in living, giving me goals for the rest of my life that I never imagined.
RS: What was the feeling like when you finished your first marathon?
Nattanat: My first marathon was an impression, and it made me fall in love with running and enjoy running.
RS: What are the traits to become a female marathoner?
Nattanat: Determination, patience, and determination, because if we don’t have these 3 things, we will not be happy with what we do.
RS: What are the traits of becoming a female marathoner?
Nattanat: Determination, patience, and determination, because if we don’t have these three things, we will not be happy with what we do.
RS: What is your motivational quote that you can share and empower women marathoners?
Nattanat: “There is nothing that we can’t do.”, “Success comes from perseverance”, and “You can do it.”
RS: Being a female marathoner, what does running a marathon mean to you?
Nattanat: Marathon creates happiness in living, giving me goals for the rest of my life with expectations, efforts and intentions that I never imagined before I ran a marathon.
You can follow Nattanat on Instagram: @natty_ku
2. Rachadapa Chanoi
Bio: 28-years-old, Insurance of Bangkok Life Assurance
Born in Thailand, Rachadapa loves to travel, and joining the marathon is a good chance for her to travel around. Her family is important to her as well, as they have always supported and encouraged her to do whatever she wants.
RS: Running a marathon is a tough sport to pursue. What gives you the determination to continue to pursue running as your sport?
Rachadapa: I thought that running a marathon is sort of challenging. Personally, I don’t want to be the winner or compete with anyone else. I just want to have self-discipline. That’s why I still keep joining half marathons, and I plan to join my first full marathon next year.
RS: As a female runner, what is the main factor to train as an marathoner?
Rachadapa: The main factor that made me decide to join running is my health. At first, my companion asked me to join a half marathon because I have allergies, so they thought running would help with this symptom. Finally, it’s worked. I felt better after that, and I fell in love with running. Now I have done the half marathon for two years.
RS: Throughout your running journey, how do you deal with your hardships?
Rachadapa: Sometimes, I’m very tired, but I try to overcome it. I have to destroy the wall and fight against my tiredness and achieve my goal.
Nothing is impossible when you try your best and achieve it.
RS: What was the feeling like when you finished your first marathon?
Rachadapa: I was delighted and appreciated that I could do it!
RS: What is the one trait to become a female marathoner?
Rachadapa: I think the important trait for a marathoner is self-discipline because we have to warm up and train for a week before running a marathon to reach the running distance that we aim for.
RS: What is your motivational quote that you can share and empower women marathoners?
Rachadapa: “Everything will be possible if you try your best. Both self-discipline and patience will encourage you to achieve your goal, including yourself and whoever always supports you.”
RS: Being a female marathoner, what does running a marathon mean to you?
Rachadapa: Running a marathon seems like destroying the wall because you might think you can’t do it at first, whether it’s hard or tiring, but when you try your best and achieve it, nothing is impossible.
You can follow Rachadapa on Instagram: @fonhnaw
3. Yaowapa Hoisungwarn
Bio: 43-years-old, Singing teacher
Yaowapa graduated from Kasetsart University, Bangkhen, the Faculty of Humanity. Her major is Western Music, opera singing and minoring in English language. Now, she give private singing lessons to her students, and most of them are international students, such as Indian, Spanish, and Thai.
RS: Running a marathon is a tough sport to pursue. What gives you the determination to continue to pursue running as your sport?
Yaowapa: What gives me the determination to pursue running as my sport is mostly because of my curiosity to know my limits and how far I can reach my maximum ability of running. I feel challenged, and at the same time, it’s fun to see my improvements.
RS: As a female runner, what is the main factor to train as an marathoner?
Yaowapa: As a female runner, my main factor is to train as a marathoner and prove that women have the ability to run. Also, women can achieve good results, just like men. Even though we have less advantage in physical factors, we need to keep disciplined in our training.
RS: Throughout your running journey, how do you deal with your hardships?
Yaowapa: Throughout my running journey, sometimes, I do encounter challenges as well, such as bad weather, cramps, or my body hasn’t fully recovered from the last race. The way I deal with these problems is to try to look over it.
For example, I would imagine the picture of myself running across the finish line, or imagine a simple reward like a cold glass of beer, a nice foot massage and even sing songs in my mind to keep me going. That’s always worked for me. After a race, I feel so proud of myself that I made it happen.
Being a female marathoner myself, marathon means more than just running to me, but it reflected my dedication, discipline and patience.
RS: What was the feeling like when you finished your first marathon?
Yaowapa: When I finished my first marathon, I felt so proud that I made it happen after a long preparation. Sometimes, I fight with myself to wake up extra early in the morning for a long run training, even though I feel lazy, but I will just follow my schedule.
RS: What is the one trait to become a female marathoner?
Yaowapa: In my opinion, the traits to become a female marathoner are more or less as follows:
- Full of energy
- Highly disciplined
- Have a positive mindset
When you run a marathon, you will need all of these qualities. You will need the energy to run longer than usual, and you have to dedicate yourself to follow your training schedule. Then, for the long-term training, you need to have positive thinking to help you to get through the laziness or give up on the schedule. A marathon is not just about running, it also trains you mentally and physically.
RS: What is your motivational quote that you can share and empower women marathoners?
Yaowapa: I’d like to share my motivations with all female marathoners that if I can do it, you can do it. For me, a mom with one son and also my regular work, I have to manage my time 24 hours to do every activity. I believe that if you’re well-organized, you can also be like me. I believe women have the power of mind as strong as men; besides, we are also flexible.
RS: Being a female marathoner, what running a marathon means to you?
Yaowapa: Being a female marathoner myself, a marathon means more than just running to me, but it reflects my dedication, discipline and patience. It also shows that I’m strong physically and mentally. On the other hand, women can be sweet and funny too.
You can follow Yaowapa on Instagram: @yaolovestorun
Are you ready to run a marathon or race with these empowered ladies? If you are, let’s join forces and take part in the Floral Women Online Race 2020. By running this race with your girlfriends, anywhere can be your finishing line.
