Professional marathon runner Camille French joins us this week for TBIYTC. Camille shares her incredible journey to competing on the world stage, balancing motherhood and training, and the powerful inspiration she draws from her daughter to push boundaries and achieve her goals.
The last three years have felt like a dream. Having my daughter, Sienna, in June 2022, she is an absolute delight and has been the most fun and energetic little girl, full of laughter and determination. She has been such an inspiration for me to keep trying harder and pushing boundaries, I see her doing this every day. She tried to roll over at about 3 weeks old, and in the end we had to move the object away. She was getting exhausted trying to get to it. I feel like everything she does she tries so hard and ultimately won’t stop until she can do it. One of her most recent phrases is ‘Sienna can do it,’ and I tell you, she actually can.
So, this young bundle of joy has helped me to focus on tackling my next dream. I wanted to run the marathon on the world's biggest stage, and I wanted her to be there cheering me on and for her to get to spend time in my favourite city in the world. This became a very strong driving force that started with incredibly slow walks/jogs that would gradually take shape and become runs before being able to get back into more or less full-time training when she was around 9 months old.
Fast forward a few months and I lined up in my first ever marathon, the Valencia Marathon in December 2023, and ran 2:26:08, a time 42 seconds under the global competition standard and fastest ever marathon debut by a New Zealander. With Sienna cheering loudly from the sidelines at 18 months old it was time to get ready for Paris!
Being a Mum at this international event feels incredibly special. I cannot quite put into words how surreal it feels to be able to train, race, travel, and have my daughter accompany us. Standing on the start line knowing she was such a huge part of my journey meant so much, and she was such a huge inspiring factor to get me across the finish line. I got to see her within seconds of finishing the race. Amongst thousands of people, Cam and Sienna were right there, under the finish line banner, waving and cheering, 'Go Mum!' An incredible journey and one I am so grateful to have taken, with a village of people helping to make this work. It will always be one of my biggest achievements, and it brings the most incredible memories.
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