Marathon runner and mother of five who survived breast cancer on the power of positivity
- Cancer showed me how I should live life, Hong Kong-based Amy Mumford says. She switched to a superfood diet, gave up alcohol and at 41 just keeps running faster
- She’s up at 3am every day, and packs in a 9km training run and two swims between cooking, childcare and school runs. ‘I love my two worlds,’ she says
Inside Amy Mumford’s Hong Kong home it is clear her life orbits around two realms: family and running.
Life with husband Rob and their children Mirabelle, Willow, Archie, Digby and Florence is a hectic one, but full of love and contentment. You can feel that in the kitchen of their Clear Water Bay residence in the New Territories, where the kids’ drawings cover almost every vertical surface.
“I am very grateful to my husband Rob, for providing the support with the children and financially, enabling me to participate in the races,” she says.
A living room bookshelf is crowded with Mumford’s medals, plates, trophies – all amassed within the last year. She has been running since the age of seven, but only recently started competing seriously, winning marquee events and securing sponsors including sports retailer Gone Running and physiotherapy clinic Joint Dynamics.
The 41-year-old recently returned from Malaysia, having won the women’s division of the Unicef Borneo Marathon on April 28 in three hours, 12 minutes and 42 seconds, despite sustaining a fractured knee. “My time wasn’t my best, though, as my knee was rather painful,” she says.