In this episode of BragTalks, Melissa Kullander shares her achievement of running a marathon on the North Pole (90 degree North) with host Heather VanCura. Melissa talks about how she started a passionate journey to run a marathon on all seven continents, plus the North Pole! Season 6 is all about sharing stories of personal accomplishments and Melissa has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how you can start achieving your dreams at any age and apply Melissa's tip for completing a marathon to anything in your life or career. You can't help but be impressed, amazed and inspired by this episode. Also check out her TV interview and her official results from the North Pole,
Biography
Melissa’s passion for running and a love of travel and adventure has been the fuel for her desire to stretch the boundaries of her personal and professional abilities. She simply states she loves to “Work Hard & Play Hard” to live to the fullest. Although she didn’t start running until her late 30’s, this native Arizona girl quickly went from local 5K fun runs to completing 49 marathons all over the world. She completed a Marathon on all 7 continents including, Comrades, the 56-mile Ultra Marathon in South Africa and, of course, Antarctica. She trained for 2 weeks at a running camp in Iten, Kenya, which is the home of many marathon world record holders. Melissa is recognized as an Iridium member of the Marathon Maniacs for completing 4 marathons in 23 days. She was also an Open Team rower with the Bair Island Aquatic Center in the San Francisco Bay area. Now at age 53, after 4 years of delays, Melissa has set her sights on completing her 50th marathon at the North Pole. She will have also achieved the “Grand Slam” (7 continents; & the North Pole).
On the professional side, she is the VP of Finance at Workday overseeing the financial planning & analysis team that is responsible for the decision support for the company’s Product; Technology organization. She has B.S. degree in Finance from Arizona State University and an MBA from “Thunderbird”, the #1 International School of Business in the U.S. Over her career in finance, she has enjoyed working and engaging with people all over the world including managing global teams from places like India, Poland, Malaysia, and the UK. In fact, she has been completely around the world 3 times on 3 separate trips. She credits her ability to work and travel effectively to running and exercising on the road. Any extra time she gets on these trips, you would undoubtedly see her out for a run. When there is a conflict with her “work hard/play hard” motto, Melissa's high energy level and dedication will muscle out a solution. A fond memory of one such situation had her running for 3 hours on the “Dreadmill” in order to keep on track with her training plan.