The Wholehearted Cook
Dani Venn
Episode 15
Ultra Endurance Athlete | Samantha Gash is running for change
Quite literally Sam is running for change. She has a huge heart, not to mention courage, compassion, grit and determination. She puts her all into everything she does and has some incredible achievements under her belt.
She’s the first woman AND the youngest person to run the 4 major deserts in one year. She also ran 379km non-stop across Australia’s Simpson Desert, taking just over 3 days.
Next up was running 2000kms across South Africa with an average of 62kms per day and more recently spent 67-days running over 3000km across India as a World Vision Ambassador.
She even featured on reality show Survivor – where incidentally she met her partner Mark.
All from a girl that didn’t consider herself sporty growing up.
In this podcast we started talking about running, but very quickly we threw ourselves head first into Sam’s social impact work.
Initially Sam would compete in marathons and various challenges but soon realised there needed to be more purpose to why she ran. So she began using her feats of physical endurance to be a platform for social change. She partners with some incredible organisations like World Vision to storytell draw attention to the people in the places she runs.
My partner Fernando and I took a road trip to record this one, and interviewed Sam at her house in the mountains about an hour outside of Melbourne. We were met at the door by her partner Mark, with a huge smile and an outstretched hand. Sam and mark were deep in planning for an upcoming adventure race in Fiji.
I get a strong sense that these two are just getting started. So with a crackling fire next to us we sat around Sam’s kitchen table for a chat.
“If you know why you’re doing what you’re doing. The depths of what you’re willing to go through and the work that you’re willing to put it can be endless.”
— Samantha Gash

Ultra Endurance Athlete | Samantha Gash
Podcast
Mentioned in conversation…
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A shift which began in her mid 20s where she discovered marathon running during her law studies and how this passion changed her life.
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The mental and physical prep required for such physical feats and how Sam has achieved so much today.
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How a true purpose can really inspire you to go the extra mile and push yourself to the extremes.
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The impact of Sam’s storytelling and her collaborations with various charities