Rotorua's Marseilles Driver will line up at the start of today's Tarawera Ultramarathon for herself and for her kids.
The solo mother-of-five said she was an "all or nothing person" - and that her running journey, that began in April 2015, has made her a better person and a better parent.
"I'm determined, excited and slightly terrified about the 100km, but for my kids to see me do something spectacular and take away the message that anything is possible if they just believe in themselves, is what it's all about."
After her youngest daughter was born in 2014, Ms Driver was struggling with her weight at 106kg, and decided to join the Rotorua Group Challenge bootcamp, where she became hooked on her new passion of running.
"I'd never run before, simply because I never enjoyed it. In fact, I despised it. But now I love the feeling after a hard run. It's funny how things change."