Brooke-Alvinston's Krista DuChene, affectionately known as the "Marathon Mom", is coming off a fantastic showing at Monday's Boston Marathon.
The 41-year-old mother of three, competing in the prestigious event for the first time since 2005, placed third in the women's elite division with a time of 2:44:20.
She was cheered on by her husband Jonathan who she says has been great in helping her along the way.
DuChene says the wet and windy weather actually provided her with a competitive advantage.
"I trained this time to handle the hills, and I did my fair share of Canadian winter running," says DuChene. "I dressed appropriately, that was really key, to keep my feet warm and dry. Even in my warm-up, I just kept changing my socks if they got wet. I wore layers of clothing, two sets of gloves and a toque under my hat, all of those things you'd never see runners wear. So, I was well-prepared in that sense."
DuChene admits she surprised even herself with her strong finish, moving from tenth to third in the final two kilometres of the gruelling 42.2 km trek.
"I passed so many people, I didn't know what was going on," she says. "I asked the escort that was with me, how I placed and he said I think third or fourth and I said no, not the Masters overall, and he said yes, overall."
DuChene says she actually felt good in the race.
"It's probably one of the races that I've felt the best in. I think a lot of that was just the way that my coach Dave had my training. I did a lot of marathon-paced runs. They weren't super fast but I also did about eight or nine 30 km to 40 km long runs," she says.
Her time this year was about 16 minutes faster than 13 years ago when she placed 51st.
DuChene says it can be difficult to not get too fired up by the loud crowd along the route.
"I think if you get too excited when you go through some of those areas where the screaming and cheering is so intense that your ears are ringing, it can be overwhelming," she says. "Sometimes you can get a bit too excited and you pick up the pace and slow down then pick it back up, that can be hard. It's almost like you have to draw upon it to a certain point and then you just have to block it out so that it doesn't become overwhelming."
DuChene dedicated this year's race to her three children, aged 12, 10, and 7, as well as the 16 people killed in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.
Her plan now is to take a bit of a break from competitive running, until at least the fall, to fully take in her success in Boston.
American Desiree Linden was the top female finisher with a time of 2:39:54.
Here's Josh Boyce's full conversation with Krista from Tuesday:
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Krista-DuChene-int.mp3"][/audio]