WCW: Nikki Kimball

Today I want to share one of my women crushes with you guys: Nikki Kimball
Why? Because I think she's awesome!

For those of you that haven't heard of her, Nikki is an American ultrarunner of epic proportions. She’s won the Marathon des Sables (a six-day race covering 156miles through the Sahara Desert), UTMB (103mile race in the Alps with a total elevation gain of 9,600m), Western States (100miles in California's Sierra Nevada in scorchio June!) as well as representing the US in a huge number of international races. So, basically, she is an amazing runner. On top of all that she also has a day job as a physical therapist. Anyone else wondering what they're doing with their days?!!

But Kimball's undeniable running prowess is not the only thing that I admire about her . One of the reasons that she's made it on to my list of woman crushes is her ongoing battle to cope with her depression. She has been vocal about her illness and is passionate about raising awareness.

There's such a stigma attached to mental health issues, although it's a topic that's getting talked about more and more which (personally) I believe can only be a good thing. It affects so many of us at some point in our lives, whether we suffer from it ourselves or it's a friend or family member, so I think it's a fundamental conversation to have.

With that in mind, I'll leave it to Kimball to talk about her experience with depression (which is still ongoing), check out this podcast to hear what she has to say about it. She shares the challenges depression presents her with, not only as an ultrarunning athlete, but also as a regular person trying to live her life on a daily basis.

I would also highly recommend her documentary 'Finding Traction' which is available on Netflix and charts her quest to become the fastest person (male or female) to run America's oldest hiking trail, the Long Trail, which is 273 miles! Yes, it's a doc about running, but it's about so much more than that; it's about equality, about striving for success no matter your sex, about grit and hard work and the limitlessness of the  human spirit. #inspiring