brooke williams

WHETHER she's doing barefoot drills on the beach near her home, breaking in a new pair of spikes on the athletics track, or just jogging out in the bush, Brooke Williams loves to run.

During high school, Brooke was often first past the finish line in the middle-distance races and cross country events.

And throughout her decade-long netball career, coaches, team-mates and opposition players were forever commenting on her ability to keep on running, with some going so far as to suggest she take it up as a competitive sport.

Last year, the La Trobe University Bendigo health and physical education student - who lives in Torquay when she's not here attending classes - finally took the hint.

But instead of easing herself in gently, Brooke decided to tackle a marathon and gave herself just three months of preparation.

"In the lead-up to it, I was working in a gym and I had always loved sport and fitness," the 22-year-old says of her first endurance run - the 45km Great Ocean Road Marathon from Lorne to Apollo Bay, slightly longer than the official 42.2km marathon distance.

"I hated all the training for it, but once I did that race, everything fell into place and it all made sense and I have loved it ever since.

"I guess I was always going to do a marathon - I just knew that running was what I was meant to do."

Brooke completed the May 2011 event in a time of three hours, 39.19 minutes (passing the 42.2km mark in a very respectable three hours and 23 minutes). She was the 103rd runner home, the 17th fastest female and finished first in her 20-24 years age category.

Since then, she's practically been run off her feet.

She won the women 10km Foreshore Fun Run in Geelong in February this year, was third female overall and first in her age group over the 14km Great Ocean Road course in May, and claimed third place in her category in the Sydney Running Festival half marathon in September.

The festival also doubled as the Australian University Distance Running