Jane Hiatt is the kind of person that has you questioning whether there are superhumans among us.
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The mother of four runs two businesses, was a 2016 federal Senate candidate and after conquering the 777 challenge in 2013 when she ran seven marathons in seven days in seven states, has pledged to do it again this year.
Training has begun and the plan is to complete the Canberra Marathon this April as a training run as it will be Day five of the epic challenge held in June.
In 2013 she crossed the finish line exhausted and emotional with strapped knees, aching muscles and feet riddled with blisters.
Pushing herself to such limits of discomfort was a small price to pay to help support child victims of sexual abuse through Bravehearts, Mrs Hiatt said.
"The driver for me is I can't do anything for people, particularly kids, who have been violated at such a young age and had their childhoods taken away from them," she said.
"I can't repair that, solve that, but I can raise money. On a personal scale it is something I can do to show them I am willing to put myself into a state of discomfort that says 'we are here with you'."
Her fundraising minimum is $10,000 but she hopes the growth of her network after political campaigning will enable her to do more for the charity.
"We start in Perth then fly to Adelaide, then Melbourne and Hobart," she said. "After Canberra I do Kingscliff on the NSW and QLD border and then the Gold Coast marathon last."
The 51 year old, who took up running six years ago to get closer to her husband Dave, said she remembers yearning for recovery time and knows from experience the worst thing to do after a marathon is sit on a plane.
She said participants, who had to make it through 300km running or walking within the week, were known to rip out a foam roller at airport gates and try and sneak in any chance to stretch and recoup.
The late-starter to the sport said she often heard people say, "I can't run" or "I'm not a runner" but felt people shouldn't write themselves off so quickly.
"You wouldn't look at me and say 'she is a runner I can tell,'" she said.
"Five kilometres for people that don't run much is a long way. I have taken time off running for injury a few times and it is so hard to get back into it. When you persevere you get to a point, you hit this sweet plateau and think that wasn't so bad."
Mrs Hiatt said what gets her through the long distances one after another was meeting people, chatting and that moment of eye contact where you're implicitly saying 'I feel you, we are in this together.'
She said the April marathon would give her a taste of what's to come this winter and said it would be re-energising to run with a home-town crowd in Canberra mid-way through the intense event later this year.
"I'm a bit of a tortoise, slow and steady," she said. "Metaphorically running is so much like life. It's about putting your head down and appreciating those pattern breaks where people come and run with you."
*An earlier version of this story indicated Jane Hiatt would run the 777 Challenge in April. It is held from June 26- July 2.
