Today we are catching up with 42 year old Canadian marathon record holder Natasha Wodak. Natasha was last on our show in February 2023 and we spent a big portion of that conversation talking about one of the many highlights of her illustrious career where she ran the Canadian marathon record of 2:23:12 in Berlin back in September of 2022. Since then she has done four marathon buildups and three marathons trying to hit the Olympic standard of 2:26:50 and she was unable to get it done for reasons she talks about in this interview. With the 18-month qualifying window now officially closed (Nov 2022 to May 2023), Natasha is left to process the fact that she will not be on the start line of the 2024 Paris Olympics, and in many ways she was doing some of that right here with us. We love when athletes keep things real and Natasha is about as real as they come, sharing both her highs and lows with full honesty and transparency. Natasha bounces back from disappointment pretty quickly and since this recording it was announced that she’ll be toeing the line at the Canadian 10k championships this weekend in Ottawa and it will be fun to cheer her on once again.

Connect with Natasha:

• Instagram: @tashawodak
• Our last interview with Natasha

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: inspiredsolescast@gmail.com
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Facebook

We love hearing from you! Connect with us on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, subscribe or leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

Gina Tranquada is a 38 year old occupational therapist, runner, wife and mother-of-two from Winnipeg, MB, who has been tearing it up on the track, road, and trails since we last spoke two years ago. Under the guidance of Olympic marathoner Krista Duchene – who currently holds the Canadian 50km record – Gina has begun making national teams. In Sept 2023, she proudly represented Canada at the Beaver Flat 50 in Swift Current, SK, which served as the first ever NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association) 50km Mountain & Trail championships. She also qualified for the World 50km Road Championships two months later in India, but you’ll have to listen to the end to hear why she wasn’t able to attend that event and how she dealt with her disappointment.

Gina just completed the Mad City Ultra 50k in Madison, WI, where she finished 4th female and 1st Canadian in 3:38, which was a personal best by 5 minutes! This performance also landed her a Top 5 North American 50km ranking from Ultra Running!

Connect with Gina:

• Instagram: @gt_racer.mb
• Gina's last Inspired Soles interview: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: inspiredsolescast@gmail.com
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website

We love hearing from you! Connect with us on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, subscribe or leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

Jessica Drakul is a 45-year old adult-onset runner who ran the 2024 Boston Marathon, set a personal best time of 3:40:11, AND re-qualified for next year’s race. Despite it being a warm day that proved challenging for many runners, Jessica maintains that it was only the second hardest thing she’s ever done. The hardest thing? Getting sober 18 years ago.

After a 7-year struggle with alcohol addiction from the ages of 19-26, Jessica had her first day of sobriety on January 11th, 2006 – about 5 weeks before her 27th birthday. In this episode she recounts the ways in which alcohol impacted her health and relationships, and brought her face-to-face with her own mortality.

Running didn’t seriously enter the picture for Jessica until the pandemic when she found herself with more time to get fit. Since then she has run dozens of races including the 2023 Manitoba Marathon, which she completed in 3:41:49 … close to one hour faster than her first one in 2021! This qualified her for the 2024 Boston Marathon and we think it’s safe to say that nobody had a more complete Boston experience than Jessica did! She toured the city, met the influencers & Olympians, bought the merch, did the shakeout runs, watched the Red Sox in Fenway Park, ate the carbs, and even brushed up on her CPR!

Jessica gives back to the Winnipeg running community in numerous ways. She serves on the board of the Manitoba Runners’ Association, is an ambassador for WFPS Run, and participates in many local run clubs.

Connect with Jessica:

• Instagram: @drakul_runnings
• Email: jessica.drakul@gmail.com

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: inspiredsolescast@gmail.com
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website

We love hearing from you! Connect with us on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, subscribe or leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.