“It was weird, as it was a virtual finish line, there weren’t crowds of people or a big fanfare,” Woodland said. “There had been people milling around the finish line, none of whom knew who I was.

“So, my friend and I came in and I collapse into an emotional heap at the end and everyone was looking at us, wondering what was going on. So it was funny, but for her and I, it was very special.”

Woodland’s treatment was disproportionate to the disease because the location of the cancer meant she had few other options. It meant trail running was off the cards.

“I guess I’m a very different version to that previous version of me that was single-minded, bloody minded. In many ways, I like this version better,” Woodland said.

‘Tough as nails’ Emily Woodland targets 100km post-cancer

When Woodland’s story became public knowledge, she received a flood of support, messages and people sharing their stories of beating cancer too.

“Running now carries a more profound reason than arbitrarily chasing numbers,” she said. “This was a much bigger fight, and a much bigger win than any of those were before.”

As Woodland set out to run the 100km, she didn’t tell many of her friends. She was worried about not finishing, and also wanted to run her own pace. With friends waiting to see her, she may have felt the need to speed up and see them at different points of the course.

It is a far cry from her previous style of rigidly pushing herself for time targets.

“I very much just went at my own pace and listened to what my body wanted at any given time. It was very relaxed and liberating,” she said.

“It was definitely a very different experience. It was very liberating not to have that pressure.”

Woodland did not manage much training. Her body is out of whack biochemically because of all the operations, and she ran just one 50km in the build up.

“Despite being woefully untrained and under conditioned, it’s funny my body just seemed to remember what to do. At some point that old instinct about how to do those distances just kicked it,” he said.

“I came in prepared to suffer but that didn’t manifest, when I say those instincts kick in, I mean that natural aptitude I’ve got to plod out those long distances. It all just came back to me.”

Once Woodland passed 50km, the effort levels seemed to plateau and she just kept moving to the end.

“Which is really remarkable since it’s been three years since I’ve done that distance.”

Having said that, Woodland did come close to quitting around 65km, as she climbed the wooden steps below the Ngong Ping cable car. But she came across a group who were crewing another runner. They shared their food and water with Woodland.

“If it hadn’t been for those strangers I wouldn’t have made it up that climb. The kindest of strangers was great,” she said.

Hong Kong’s 5th major trail commemorates late legend Nic Tinworth

Three friends joined Woodland for different sections but she spent about half of the 100km by herself, including most of the night.

“That’s when it’s most quiet. It was a great opportunity for self-reflection. I had extreme gratitude that my body was allowing me to get out there again.”

“It’s the joy of a beautiful sunset, or appreciating the beauty of nature, or the friendly small interactions, or the many moments I was saying to myself ‘my goodness, my body is actually letting me do this’. It was the small things I kept coming across along the way rather than one big bang moment.”

Woodland is raising money for Cancer Funds and wants to encourage others to get themselves checked for cancer.

Woodland wants to spend sometime sorting out her biomechanical issues before taking on another challenge. But is already contemplating another 100km early next year.

“That drive, that burn, that joy for being out on the trails is still there,” Woodland said. “I don’t think I’m done yet.”