Lauren Orders, 30, and Bethan Dawn, 31, decided they wanted to bit fitter and healthier for their kids, so they signed up for the Canberra Times Fun Run.
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The two mums, both with three kids, weren't exercise buffs but decided to try their hand at the 10 kilometre on Sunday.
"I've never even done school sports carnivals," Ms Dawn said.
"We have never been into exercise. We just sort of made it a personal goal."
The pair had begun to see a personal trainer a few months ago, but it was Ms Orders who decided to sign the two up for the run on a whim.
"That was Lauren's brain snap, I'm being dragged along," Ms Dawn said.
Ms Orders said she'd always admired people who just ran past her while she sat in the car.
"I wanted to be one of those people that could just run," Ms Orders said.
"I decided to set a goal before my 30th birthday - which was in August - to run five kilometres."
Ms Dawn and Ms Orders both clocked their first five kilometres in July, running the bridge-to-bridge around Lake Burley Griffin.
"We were pretty amazed that we could actually do it," Ms Orders said.
The two had slowly set goals: only walk on the bridges and the red gravel section opposite the Australian War Memorial, then only the red gravel, before in the middle of one run they decided to run non-stop.
"It was kind of just like 'Yeah, we can just do it'," Ms Orders said.
Sunday won't be their first 10 kilometres, the pair finished that doing Lake Burley Griffin twice.
"It felt really good, sore but really good," Ms Dawn said.
Their training mainly focussed on slowly building up to doing a full 10 kilometres with some weights training.
Ms Dawn was in a car crash nearly a decade ago and had problems with her back, she's focussed on fixing her posture as she runs.
Ms Orders said they had also been walking up Mount Ainslie and running up the Red Hill stairs, which helped build muscle in their legs, allowing them to do flatter runs for longer.
After finishing their first 10 kilometres Ms Orders decided to sign up for a half marathon.
"I think because we'd already run 10 kilometres, I was already going like, 'Alright, what's next'," Ms Orders said.
This year will be the 43rd year of The Canberra Times Fun Run which will take place on Sunday, September 23.
The run will take participants around the parliamentary triangle and Lake Burley Griffin.
Registrations close September 22. Click here to enter.
