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First Marathon Story: Sandy Engler

Writer: Taylor Sayles
Taylor Sayles
Oct 5
3 min read
Two smiling women on a warm-tinted video call, with Sandy Engler text across the center and framed art on the wall.

Falling in Love with Running (Slowly)

Sandy moved to Australia in 2020 from Switzerland, and her life started training a bit. Australians have a very active lifestyle, and it encouraged Sandy to become more active herself. Distance running, though, came to Sandy much more recently. She joined a gym community that introduced running classes, and her coach kept pushing her to try new things and new distances. At the beginning, the run class wasn't that much fun. But she stuck to it, and when the gym organized a team for the local marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K race, she decided (was peer-pressured by her best friend) to jump right in and train for the half marathon. Through the training, she gradually fell in love with running.


Deciding to Run a Full Marathon

The half marathon ended up being a really enjoyable experience, and while celebrating after the race, someone asked, "Should we do a full marathon?" And by then, she was hooked. She said yes.


The Sydney Marathon held a special place in her heart. It was the first place she lived in when she came to Australia, and she decided to enter the ballot for the Sydney Marathon that year. She found out she got in when the charge hit her bank account, and she was ready to go from there. She was excited, ready to prepare for about a year, and knew she'd have enough support to get her through to the finish.


There were some ups and downs, of course. She had to take time off from running for surgery and a trip to the U.S. and Mexico. She struggled with shin splints too, which kept her from doing faster training runs, and meant some time off from running. She implemented cross-training, which was hard for her. But once she worked out sustainable cross-training activities, things slowly fell into place. She learned to manage the injury, know when to rest and when to run.


Sandy's First Marathon

Sandy did have some doubts. She hesitated to book her flights until much closer to the race, unsure if the injury would prevent her from running the marathon at all. But she eventually decided she had to take the chance. She ran 30K as her longest run, and then began the taper.


Sandy showed up to the marathon, and luckily, she ended up being able to start the race with her friend. Eventually, they broke off from each other since Sandy was in some degree of pain. The atmosphere was amazing, there were people everywhere. Despite the pain, it was so much fun.


At around 24K, the pain in her foot subsided. She was able to increase her pace a bit after 30K, but remained conservative, meaning she felt good the whole time and was able to truly enjoy the experience.


Crossing the finish line was amazing (although she admits she was happy to be going on a vacation the day after).


Lessons Learned

  • If you have to cross-train, find a sustainable and enjoyable way to do so.

  • Don't ignore an injury, and rely on expert advice.

  • There's not one way to treat an injury.

  • Don't be too hard on yourself.


Want to hear Sandy tell the story herself? Listen to the full episode now: Back Where It All Began: Running Sydney, the City That Became Home w/ Sandy Engler— available wherever you get your podcasts.


Listen to my most recent mini episode: Survival Guide To Running Your First Marathon



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Follow along with the show:

👣 Personal IG/TikTok: @tay.says / @taysays

🎙️ Podcast IG/TikTok: @myfirstmarathonpod

📺 YouTube: @MyFirstMarathonPodcast


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