Natalie Crawford: The runner changing perceptions around CF
In Episode 15, a podcast-only edition of the Running Tales podcast, in collaboration with Run Tri Bike, Craig Lewis interviewed the inspirational Natalie Crawford.
As a sickly and frail child, Natalie avoided exercise at all costs. Poor attendance at school and a constant cough that wore her out led Natalie to be diagnosed with asthma. She spent time in and out of hospital with chest infections, would cough huge amounts of mucus up, and suffered from frequent bouts of pneumonia.
For years, Natalie just thought that was the way her life was and that there was no particular rhyme or reason to her bouts of illness.
It was only at the age of 28 that she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF), a chronic condition that causes malnutrition, breathing problems, frequent respiratory infections, and lung disease. Worse, at the time of her diagnosis, it came with a frightening life-expectancy of 37.
And now Natalie was not just fighting for her own health. Her diagnosis had followed swiftly on from that of her son, who was diagnosed with CF while in the womb.
A determined Natalie decided she had to act. Running was to become her weapon of choice.
At first, she joined the gym, walking on the treadmill, and despite the agony in her lungs and constantly being sick afterwards, her fitness started to improve. With the help of her running coach, Aaron, she started to make real progress, learning how to eat, rest and recover like an athlete.
Best of all, she found the exercise loosened the mucus in her lungs, helping her to breathe more easily. With a new diet that saw her take in 5,000 calories a day to help stabilise her weight, she felt healthier than ever before and her infections became fewer and further apart.
A first 5k followed and then a series of half-marathons. The girl who had spent 28 years not exercising was setting new boundaries. Medical advice around CF said she should be resting, hiding away from the chance of catching bugs, but Natalie was convinced there was another way.
Then, one day, she decided to take on the toughest challenge of her life - running the Birmingham Marathon. Doctors told her not to run a race they said would be "impossible" for her, but Natalie's mantra was to never take no for an answer.
She duly completed the race, becoming one of the first women in the world with cystic fibrosis to run a marathon and inspiring multitudes of others with CF to take up running.
Natalie has gone on to complete more marathons since then, constantly taking on medical orthodoxy and pushing herself to new limits.
Throughout her journey, running has become something that will always define her, not cystic fibrosis.
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In a world where less than one per cent of people will complete a marathon, the four Natalie Crawford has finished is exceptional.
But Natalie’s accomplishments come with a huge asterisk next to them. That’s because the 42-year-old has cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic condition that causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and comes with a host of symptoms including difficulty breathing, coughing fits, frequent respiratory infections and lung disease.