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With multiple marathons under her belt Melissah hopes her team will bring back gold at the World 100km Championships.
Profeet Ambassador, Melissah Gibson, moved to the UK from Australia in 2011, and it wasn’t long before she fell in love with running. Then, at the age of 28, she switched from being a heavy smoker chained to a desk, to a run commuter, finding that she “actually wasn’t too bad at this running stuff”!
As well as enjoying the physical benefits, she also found that her runs were a great stress reliever from her busy career in finance.
“You go out for a quick 10k blast and then you kind of come back with a different perspective.”
Discovering the joy of running gave Melissah a whole new perspective. She was welcomed into the running community and her focus shifted away from climbing the career ladder to planning run weekends with friends.
Now, she has a ‘new family’ at Ealing Eagles Running Club and although she enjoys Parkruns and club races with her club friends, she mainly goes out running on her own, clocking up around 80 miles a week.
“I’ve got about 300 or 400 friends in Ealing now! I picked the club because it was so social and low pressure. I think for me it’s all about enjoyment, which is why I run. I don’t have a coach – every day I just run however I want to run.”
Marathon success, amidst injury cycles
In 2012, soon after her first half marathon in Barcelona, Melissah’s first marathon in Rome was plagued by an injury. But she still managed a very respectable 3:24 and since then, Melissah’s completed a total of 102 marathons! But in the early days she’d been dealing with ‘constant injury cycles’ which brought her into the Profeet Run Lab in 2013.
Melissah was struggling with fallen arches, so following a gait analysis she was provided with new custom orthotics. She found the whole experience was a complete game-changer.
“The arch support has been really useful to avoid injuries and give me that extra support. The insoles last a really long time! Also, the gait analysis that they do is really useful for spotting different issues and they’ve recommended exercises that have helped correct a lot of my injury issues.”
Melissah can conveniently switch her custom insoles between her (30 pairs of) shoes, giving her much needed stability and helping her to overcome different ankle and tendon issues. She regularly wears them inside her Nike Vaporfly racing shoes, enjoying the support they lend ‘even with a lighter class of shoe’.
Next goal – 100km World Champs!
Now selected to run for ‘Team GB’, Melissah is finding that ultra marathons is where she performs best. Not a fan of run plans, speed sessions, and the pressure that comes with one or two marathon races a year, instead Melissah plans several, often successive, marathons on her race calendar. Last year, just two weeks after winning the Loch Ness Marathon, she went on to win the Yorkshire Marathon – squeezing in a silver podium finish at Chester in between!
But, she says there is a ‘method in her madness’. Frequent marathon events means that not only does it take the pressure off, but she can easily switch to ultra distances.
“I think 100 km and above will be where I do best. I do find I’ve got really good endurance, so I can run all day, but it’s just hard for me to go really fast.”
In April, British Athletics announced Melissah as one of the first four athletes confirmed for the IAU World 100km Championships. Melissah will be adorning her British vest on 7 December in Bengaluru, India.
“We’d love to win team gold for Britain! I moved to London for the cooler weather so I think a hot humid 100km race in India could be quite a challenge!”
Before that though, Melissah is looking forward to a summer of running, preparing for her next marathons including Berlin at the end of September, and breaking in her latest run shoes picked up at Profeet, her New Balance Fuelcell SC Elite v4 Womens Road Running Shoes.
Read our review of New BalanceFuelcell SC Elite V4
We all wish Melissah the best of luck!
Shop online or book a Profeet Signature Fit with Custom Insoles for a truly personalised fit – Call 020 7736 0046 to book.
Main Photo: North Glen News
OUR SERVICE IS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Profeet’s services are by appointment only, please call or book online in advance