Ask any athlete what gets them through injury, burnout or rock bottom, and they’ll probably say grit. But look closer and you’ll find something else holding it all together: an athlete support system. The kind that doesn’t ask for anything in return. That shows up quietly. That reminds you who you are when you’ve forgotten.
For Jenna Challenor, a pro runner with decades of success behind her and a famously gritty finish at the 2022 Comrades Marathon, having an athlete support system was everything. Because after the cameras stopped rolling and the footage of her crawling across the finish line went viral, her body shut down.
Her autoimmune disease flared, likely triggered by COVID and the sheer physical demand of the race. She lost her strength and her sense of self. “I couldn’t be a wife, I couldn’t be a mom, I couldn’t be present. I couldn’t even sit up.” But while she felt like she was losing everything, her support system held firm.
Jenna doesn’t romanticise what came next. “I must admit, I didn’t know if there was a purpose to my life then, or to me living,” she says honestly. “I felt absolutely useless.”
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Jenna’s Athlete Support System
What Jenna didn’t expect was that one of the most pivotal turning points would come from outside her immediate circle – from someone she’d never even met.
“All until one day when Rae Trew-Browne reached out and asked me if I would like to try out some PUMA shoes,” she says. “With nothing to lose and everything to gain, I thought, ‘Why not?’” She tested them. Gave feedback. Loved the feel. Then came the call: PUMA South Africa was offering her an elite-level contract.
“That was the day I came back to life. There was hope and belief in me.”
At a time when she had no racing calendar and no certainty about the future, a brand believed in her, just as she was. It was the kind of athlete support system that transforms not just the athlete but everything else, too. “If a brand wanted to back me at rock bottom in my career, that spoke volumes about who they were. My PUMA family have been my rock. They’ve given me space to heal, resources to train, and they’ve never, ever put pressure on me to perform – just to get well.”
“It gave me the courage and strength I needed to keep showing up.”
For Jenna, healing meant stepping back from being “Jenna the runner.” It meant leaning into the other parts of herself. “My Instagram is very much my whole family, including our dogs,” she laughs. “I don’t want to just be the athlete. I want to be Jenna the normal person. Jenna the mom. Jenna the person who loves dogs. Jenna the wife.” She credits her family – and especially her daughters – with reminding her how to slow down. “They’ve helped me learn to show myself grace and kindness,” she says.
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Be Kind To Yourself
That wasn’t always easy. “People would say, ‘Just be kind to yourself,’ and I hated that phrase. Because for me, being kind meant running. It meant doing what I love.”Now, she’s learned a different version of self-compassion. “If it means I can’t do that session today, then I need to respect it. I need to be kind to my body and not beat myself up. We’re all human. We can’t always do what we used to.”
She’s met many versions of herself along the way – the elite runner, the mother, the quiet fighter. “I’ve met versions where I’ve been super strong, super low, super negative, super positive, on top of the world, rock bottom, underground.”
If she could talk to the Jenna waiting for surgery, she’d say this: “Be kind to yourself. Give yourself some grace. Let the body heal. Let the mind heal. Stop beating yourself up. What’s meant to be will be. You still get to be loved by your family. You still get to be a mom. You still get to be a wife. You still get to be Jenna.”
READ MORE: 6 Life Lessons On Staying Motivated – By A Pro Runner Who’s Been Through It All
There’s Strength In Numbers
If you’re going through something – as an athlete or just as a person – get the support you need. Let the right people hold you up. Align yourself with brands, mentors, partners who see who you are, not just what you can achieve. Healing doesn’t happen in isolation and real strength sometimes looks like leaning hard into your people; your support system.
Jenna’s story isn’t about a perfect comeback, but rather about the rebuilding that happens when you’re surrounded by love and belief – when you’re given space to pause, breathe and begin again.
“Grace, grit and gratitude – that’s this chapter.”
