Surviving the Runner

Kelly Kidgell is a mom of three, and the wife of an ultra-runner. In these exclusive extracts adapted from her new book, Surviving The Runner, Kidgell exposes the peculiar (and amusing) habits of her runner-husband – warts and all.

- Kelly Kidgell

I do remember seeing Warren at the Comrades finish, way back in the day. It’s always his eyes I remember. I thought he was a quiet weirdo.

We went from ‘hello’ to engaged within six months (no, I wasn’t pregnant). We shared our first romantic kiss on the dance floor at a nightclub on Florida Road in

Durban. Someone had joked that Warren was a millionaire, and that I should ‘take one for the team’ so as to ensure he footed the bill for a constant supply of tequila for the rest of the night.

He stuck it to me like shit sticks to a blanket. But I didn’t mind. I knew I loved him and I knew I was going to marry him, despite the fact that he wasn’t actually a millionaire.

We got married in 2008, and spent about six years living in the UK. It was there that his passion for road-shuffling was reignited.

Seeing him smash personal bests, eventually by hours, I became increasingly aware his talent was something to be cherished. In those moments between shivering at icy starting lines and becoming a parent to three little boys, I made a conscious and committed decision to support his running dreams.

Dreams that seem to get bigger with every race he conquers. Dreams that will never cease to leave me awestruck.