As a runner, Tracey Waterfall was a late bloomer.

Now, at 55, she tackles ultramarathons of more than 200km in length through jungle, ice and sand.

At the end of May, the owner of Broadford business All Things Uniform took on The Jungle Ultra, a gruelling 230km self-sufficient ultramarathon deep in the Amazon Rainforest in Peru.

This wasn’t the first so-called “insane” ultra that the local mum of two has run, with her first being a 285km self-supported race at the Grand Canyon in 2023.

Despite not only completing significant distances on foot, and even being the first woman to finish in the Fire and Ice 250km race in Iceland, Ms Waterfall was anything but sporty at school.

She took up running at 40 as a way of carving out time for herself.

“A mum’s life is so busy. We have to be the jack of all trades and do everything — it actually consumes your life,” she said.

“As the children get older, you do have extra time, and all of a sudden, you start to concentrate on yourself a little bit.

“I didn’t start running until I was 40. I started with doing 5km, then 10km, and then half-marathons, and then marathons. Every year it was something a little bit different and new.”

Ms Waterfall’s latest venture was certainly different and new.

For five days, she pushed through diverse biomes and punishing terrain with a heavy pack on her back, navigating the journey largely on her own.

Aside from a bit of morale-boosting from the other runners, the ultra was entirely self-supported.

After basically running a marathon each day, Ms Waterfall would have to cook her own dinner, clean herself off and put herself to bed — in a hammock, no less — to get up again and coach herself through the next day.

Ms Waterfall said that before she began her running journey, she thought reaching such a significant distance, and doing it alone, was “unachievable”.

Now, it’s her mission to inspire women like her to “understand that (they) can do hard things”.

“What I would have thought was impossible for me at one stage has now become possible,” Ms Waterfall said.

“In that middle age, you can get really bogged down in everyday life, where you think you’re just too old to start. But you’re not, you can start at any age.

“I’m just an average person, and a local at that, and I would just like to inspire somebody to do something that they wouldn’t normally do.”

Ultramarathons have taken Ms Waterfall across the globe, led her to meet a supportive and inclusive running community and helped her understand that she can do whatever she sets her mind to.

Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.

On the third day of the Jungle Ultra, Ms Waterfall thought she would have to give up.

“I was so broken. I was injured, my leg was injured,” she said.

“I thought the race was over, and I got so emotional because I just didn’t know how I was going to get up the next day and go again.”

It wasn’t only the words of a running mate and her own self-determination that kept her going, it was also something she’s had with her since the start.

“My dad passed away years ago and so, at these events, I carry his flag, which was over his coffin, with me,” Ms Waterfall said.

“I always have his flag with me and I fly it as I go. I always say that I run for him.

“Everybody has their reason why, and if you find your why, it works for you, and that seems to work for me.”

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Thursday, 13th March 2031

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