Tips on battling depression from a legendary ultra runner who exercises to avoid the next attack
After suffering her first serious case of depression at 22, Nikki Kimball found that distance running was not just something she was good at – she needed it to survive. Now she teaches others how to combat depression though exercise
Nikki Kimball is a legend in the world of ultra running. Over 16 years of competitive racing, the 46-year-old American has won almost every major ultra marathon in the world, including the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in 2007 and the Marathon des Sables in 2014.
For even longer than that, she has also been locked in a battle with clinical depression. Now she is sharing her hard-won knowledge with fellow sufferers.
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Kimball lives in Bozeman, Montana, where the local folk know a thing or two about outdoor sports. They consider this disarmingly friendly physiotherapist, runner and skier a local treasure as much for her ultra-running achievements as for her social work in mental health.
Max Baucus, who represented Montana in Congress and is the former US ambassador to China, is a friend and loyal long-term fan. He holds the record for the fastest marathon (3 hours 1 minute) in the US Congress and described Kimball as “one of the most inspirational human beings I have ever met”.
Running long distances is painful – just getting through a marathon is an achievement in itself, a test of both fitness and character. Competitive ultra running, however, requires not just surviving, but performing athletically, battling other runners in conditions of mental and physical exhaustion.
Kimball can do this like few others but, for her, running and winning ultras has little to do with sporting glory or testing her limits – it is a baseline necessity, a medication.