Enduring Manawatū sprinter Vanessa Hodge pushing past life’s obstacles

“Don’t give up.”

That’s the emphatic message Vanessa Hodge hopes to convey with her stride and determination, inspiring other athletes past the point of personal bests to hold onto the will to compete – and win.

It’s also the voice inside her head as the 49-year-old stares down her own obstacles, such as two troublesome knees and overcoming the loss of a dear friend and coach.

Hodge (formerly Vanessa Story), who is preparing for the European Masters Games in Finland in July, has been darting from the starting blocks with Palmerston North Athletic Harrier Club for more than 20 years, and is now starting to sense Father Time looming in the outside lane.

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“To be honest I used to use the theory age was just a number but when you use your body this way, and even though I’ve been doing it for so many years, no it doesn’t just become a number.

“Your muscles and your tendons, all those sorts of things, it certainly takes a toll.”

But her will is unrelenting.

The Feilding woman is on the comeback following a meniscus tear in her left knee last year that required surgery. The right knee had already undergone three operations.

Hodge brought home three medals – a gold and two silvers – in her age group at the Panpac Games at Gold Coast in November – competing in the 100 metres, 200m, 400m and 800m – and won a bronze in the 400m at the Australian Masters in Sydney in March.

“I like to be a role model and say ‘hey, don’t give up’. I have a high passion for this sport. Training is not easy. The demands on your body, you’re tired, those sorts of things. But I absolutely love it – I couldn’t imagine not having it in my life.

“Even with all my injuries my main goal was always to come back.”

Hodge has also had to adapt to a new training regime and relationship with new coach Tony Snell following the death of her former coach, local athletics stalwart Mal Thomas in 2021.

She had trained with Thomas for a decade and their relationship went beyond the track, they were “like father and daughter”, Hodge said.

Working with Snell, who was based in Hastings, over the phone and via Skype, was very different to having Thomas watching from the track every day.

“I had to gain trust and belief in someone else’s training … I had to just accept every coach is different.”

Being at the upper end of the 45 to 49 age group at the European Masters meant she would be up against younger, faster athletes, but this would just add to the achievement of beating them, Hodge said.

“Your goals do change a bit. I think I’m still hard on myself. I think any athlete no matter what age they are, they’re always hard on themselves. They always want the best.

“It’s having the realism that you’re not going to run the times you would have when you were 20 or even 30. I’m getting closer to 50 – my goals you have to put [them] in perspective and look at them realistically.”

A medal in any of her distances would be “the ultimate” in Finland, but making a final and notching up season’s best performances were the goals she was setting.

With little funding available for masters athletes, she would be getting herself to Europe off her own back, and was thankful for the support she received from the Harriers club and her workplace, Main Street Dental.