FAYE STENNING: SPARTAN RACER

Faye Stenning was skinny, uncoordinated and not particularly good in school as a youngster.

But today, the 27-year-old is a professional Spartan Racer in one of the world's most competitive and harsh outdoor sports arenas. She travels the globe, competing in races from three miles to a marathon, facing obstacles from packing heavy objects, to rope climbs, to tire flips.

In 2016, she topped the Spartan global points ranking, after placing second in the U.S championships and third in the world championships, and being regularly featured on NBC Sports.

This year's goal for a sport she is “freakishly good” at: “to win the U.S. Championship Series; the world championships and be the best in the world.”

To do that, Stenning recently left her job in Calgary's energy industry, after finding sponsorship money, and joined Reebok's professional team.

It was a big decision but, “I know I have a backup plan. I have an education, a degree. And I have always worked to live, not lived to work.”

Stenning was a top-ranked crosscountry runner through university. In 2013, her boyfriend suggested a Spartan Race in Red Deer. “Right off the bat, I was the top female.”

With competitions around the world, the couple combined travel to new places with races.

Stenning earned prize money — purses range from $500 to $15,000 for worlds — and turned professional last April

A self-described “obsessed, crazy, outdoors, health” person, she loves running through beautiful mountains instead of on roads. And she loves those obstacles.

“It's not something I am naturally good at; I have to work at it in the gym.”

But Stenning says mental strength is just as important as physical power.

“There is not much difference, physically, in the top five women. What makes a winner is the mental game. Spartan racing hurts. You are going up elevations at which you can get altitude sickness. You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.”