The incredible journey that Lutana Spotswood has taken from novice runner to Sunday's New York Marathon inside two years has little to do with the iconic course that meanders its way through the city's five boroughs.
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That came after an overseas trip brought the realisation that unhealthy choices were weighing life down.
"I was drinking a bit too much, eating take-away and had gained some weight," she said before boarding a flight to New York.
"As a nurse, I knew I needed to make some changes. I was over the gym, so I thought, I'll just start running.
"I didn't really know anything about running - I didn't even have a running watch or quality running shoes."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
The only pair Spotswood owned were run-of-the-mill from KMart which were worn out six months later when she mustered the courage to join the Launceston parkrun.
Wearing a dodgy fitbit may have excused the rise in the number of kilometres to trek a Gold Coast half-marathon.
But neither gel sneakers nor an activity tracker could prepare Spotswood for last year's Melbourne Marathon.
"I was a little overwhelmed with my first marathon, as it was a really warm day and people were literally dropping like flies," she said. "I was like, oh my God, is this what marathons are really like?"
The 37-year-old finished a first marathon in four hours and seven minutes a year on from the decision that has turned her fitness around.
Next ambition is to break a sub four-hour time in New York. That's language that would never have entered the vernacular before dropping from 65kg to 52.
"I'll be happy to cross that finish line as anything can really happen," she said.
"I try to train to the best of my ability, I hope to improve some more, but I'm happy of how much I have improved.
"I know I love the sport, because when I get knocked down with a niggle or an injury, I continue to get back up and move forward. I'm already thinking about my next running adventure and hope to do Chicago Marathon."
It has all been about living, sleeping and breathing the sight of just standing on the Staten Island starting line.
Spotswood first prepared with low heart-rate training before switching to a faster workout five days a week.
A strained calf in August proved a hiccup, but physiotherapy has the Launceston General Hospital nurse in the best shape of her life.
The former Queechy High student has learned to run up the hills of Trevallyn when the first few times she barely broke above walking pace.
Spotswood had never imagined running the 42.195km distance after gradually taking each kilometre at a time, every initial run.
But completing the 50th year of one of the world's great marathons, she may let herself indulge for a moment to commemorate how far the runner has come.
"I haven't drank alcohol for almost two years, but I may have one or two after New York," she said.
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