Mina Endeley Instagram line says it all, a Military Mum. Loves people, travel, but hates flying, Lupus Warrior, Marathons, Crafting, Charity, Everlasting Optimist, essentially well rounded and has an interest in many things, one of those is running. Her journey started over 20 years ago as a simple way to find out where her baseline fitness was. In order to find that out running. Little did Mina know that, that simple baseline fitness curiosity would lead her to running countless marathons races and eventually lead her to capturing 6 world marathon majors.
Mina: I had this great idea that I would join the British military when I was a medical student 24years ago. For no other reason than that they would help for my medical school training. I knew that I would have to have a baseline fitness level and I was not sure how to start doing this. I knew I had to start somewhere. I started with a run around the block of my dorm – it killed me!!! I did it again a few more times and this showed me just how unfit I had become and made me want to work at getting fitter.
MSM: YOU are now a 6-star World Major marathon finisher. For those that may not know this is indeed a big and major flex in the run game and it’s not something that many achieve. The World Marathon Majors consist of Berlin, Chicago, Tokyo, NYC, London & Boston, 6 races spanning 4 different countries. Let’s get into how you got into marathoning. To run a marathon is not something you just do. It usually starts with an inquiry then explodes. What made you want to tackle the marathon?
Mina: I NEVER saw myself running a Marathon, talk less of running many! In 2015, my dearest friend Kuzy was diagnosed with stomach cancer and given an 18month timeframe. She was 36. I felt powerless to help. She had young children and was doing everything she could to fight it. I wanted to help and signed up for a marathon to fundraise for Cancer research. I had not run more than 5km ever!!! I had 6 months to train, I was determined, and I knew I could get through it because this meant I was in my own small way “helping”.
MSM: There are marathons and then there are majors which have a different vibe all together. Take us through the feelings of running that first world major and crossing the finish on the last one. Also, when did you know that you wanted to capture all 6 marathon majors?