Lutterworth Rotarian reminds people to ‘never give up’ after achieving her dream – 25 years in the making

Zelda Taylor, a member of Lutterworth Rotary Club, first pursued her dreams to become an ‘elite runner’ by taking part in 10 ultra-marathons, in 1999.

At 35 years old, she first ran the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon – a 35-mile race in Cape Town, South Africa, known as ‘the world’s most beautiful marathon’.

When Zelda moved to Lutterworth from South Africa, in 2018, she had completed her eighth race and was on track to complete the ninth and tenth – her ultimate goal.

She said fellow Rotarians were very encouraging although thought her ‘absolutely mad’.

She said: “They were a great source of encouragement in so many ways and helped me tremendously to settle and integrate into the community as we did not know anyone.

“When they found out that I was going to go and run the Ultra Marathon they were very encouraging even though a number of them thought I was absolutely mad.”

Despite finding training difficult in UK winter climes, Zelda persevered and completed the same marathon a ninth time.

However, just when her ultimate goal was within reach, Covid put a stop to her final pursuit.

Zelda says the blow caused her to lose interest for around three years, and did not begin training intently until last November.

She was on the final stretch of training before the April race, when some health news threw uncertainty on her long-standing dream.

After experiencing some abdominal discomfort Zelda was diagnosed with a hernia.

She explained: “Needless to say I was devastated and couldn’t believe that all my efforts were in vain.

“But after speaking to the surgeon and explaining to him what I was training for, he said ‘go and run, your body will tell you if you can’t’.

“I felt elated because I got the green light from him but had to lay off training until I got to South Africa three days before race day.”

The running enthusiast went for a six-mile run the day before the big race and decided to attempt the final marathon – albeit cautiously.

But the atmosphere, she said, immediately boosted her confidence.

She explained: “The atmosphere, excitement, and nerves at the start was so exhilarating and the crowd support along the route is amazing and this pulls you through.

“I felt fine up to the 17.4 mile point, and strong, which is where I thought I might have to call it a day but decided to continue even though I knew this is really where the race starts because you start

climbing at least 931 meters and finally descend 879 meters to the finish.

“Fatigued and with some abdominal discomfort I managed to push through.”

She made the cut-off to qualify for a finish, with just two minutes to spare.

She added: “I took every ounce of my being to finish and I am very grateful that I managed. It has taken me 25 years to achieve my goal which I have now finally completed at the age of 61.

“Thank you to everyone who has encouraged and supported me along this journey.

“My motto is - anything is possible and never give up on you goals and dreams.”