ABOUT Natalie
Natalie is a professional Astrophysicist; her job involves studying galaxies other than our own and understanding how they evolve.
But asides from studying the beautiful Universe we live in, she loves running. In fact, she doesn't think she could survive without running!
She started running thanks to her Sports Teacher at Secondary School in Nicosia when she was 12. It changed her life.
Natalie has many wonderful memories of representing the track teams both at Durham University and the University of Oxford during her studies, in the 100m, 200m and 100m hurdles.
A highlight was representing Oxford in the Varsity matches against Cambridge - picture below.
Oxford University Athletics Club has claims to being the oldest athletics club in the world!
She made some of her best friends through the Athletics Clubs :)
We didn't just train and compete together, we had dinners afterwards, we went on trips together and had fun.
Three Favourite Things:
Cats - Running - Galaxies!
After moving back to Cyprus, she got into longer distance running. The first 'long' run for Natalie was a 5km fun run for Women's Day in Athalassa Park, Nicosia in March 2013 - see picture below. Through the encouragement of friends and support from the
Cyprus Trail Runners, she continued to build on distance running and also got to explore all around the island on runs!
In 2017 she completed the Two Castles Mountain Ultra 50km in the Pendathaktylos/Besparmak mountains - picture above-
Something she would have thought was impossible just a few years ago!
She wants to help others try new things and push their boundaries, you will be impressed with what you can achieve!
When you run for so long (it took 7.5 hours to run 50km) it turns into a moving meditation. Running it would seem is just as good for the soul as it is for the body :)
Socialising with team mates is absolutely a highlight of being part of a sports club!
Natalie also trains for triathlons: swimming, biking and running, and competes for fun, with her friends!
She also loves climbing, both on the rock and at indoor gyms.
She was very lucky to have an excellent Yoga teacher in the UK and she continues to practice Ashtanga Yoga.
When she worked at a Secondary School as a Sports Teacher in Nicosia, she saw how difficult it was to get the girls to be active, compared to the boys...
Natalie noticed that in all the competitions she did in Cyprus - running, climbing, triathlons - there were always much fewer women who participate compared to men...
These factors got her thinking... She talked about this with nazo and decided to start this campaign!
We encourage women and girls from all over Cyprus to get more involved in sports
- and most importantly -
to have fun doing so!
Women in Cyprus who were performing well in Sports in Cyprus weren't well known at all...