The senior lecturer in educational psychology combines travelling and marathon running in ‘runcations’.
Teaching runs in the family for Dr Helena Granziera whose mother has been a schoolteacher for 48 years. She realised early in her undergraduate studies, while travelling, that this was her calling too.
“I was in an internet cafe in Cambodia and called my mum on Skype and said, ‘Mum I think I want to be a PDHPE teacher”.
For eight years Helena taught at a NSW primary school, while also completing a Master of Education. Through both experience and her studies, she realised teacher wellbeing was a topic “that deserved far more attention than it was being given”.
“Schools are becoming increasingly difficult places to function in, and I think teachers tend to take a lot of the blame,” Helena said. Her Master degree inspired her to “pursue research and find new avenues to try and help teachers”, so she completed a PhD in Teacher Wellbeing.
Running around the world
Having taught PDHPE for a year and with a lifelong interest in public health, Helena said it made sense for her to pursue something physical as a hobby outside academia. She started running. Now, her hobby has become more of a lifestyle as she combines her love of running and traveling to go on ‘runcations’.
“I’m a huge traveller, I just absolutely love exploring every corner of the globe that I possibly can”, Helena said. “The exposure to different cultures charges my batteries.”
She seeks out a competitive run pretty much anywhere she goes, from Seoul to Costa Rica. Marathon running or ‘runcations’ might seem like an independent endeavour but Helena turns a solo sport into an opportunity to support the running community. She helps others by volunteering to be a ‘pacer’ – running the race to a time frame so that her competitors can follow her and achieve their own personal best.
“I really love pacing. You get to see so many people who’ve been on the cusp of their personal best and I get to bring them across the finish line in that timeframe. The last 5 kilometres I yell ‘You can do it’ to motivate them. I just love it,” Helena said.
Back at UNSW
Helena’s office is cosy, welcoming and filled with memorabilia. It’s a snapshot of her life achievements, personal and professional.
A collection of children’s drawings is proudly displayed on one side of the room. They’re all depictions of Helena’s rescue cat, drawn by students she taught during her eight years as a primary school teacher. On the other side is a corkboard covered with photographs of an elephant, a sloth, a sea turtle and an orangutan – all animals she met on her travels and now sponsors.
Helena travelled to Sri Lanka to meet her sponsored elephant and went scuba diving in the Maldives.
Can you tell us something that might surprise your colleagues?
I am a life member of the Paramatta Eels.
What’s the best advice you ever received?
Work hard, be kind and do good, from my Nonno [grandfather].
What is one thing that makes you happy?
My cat and running marathons and, in an ideal world, running a marathon with my cat.
What day in your life would you like to relive?
Scuba diving with sea turtles in the Maldives – to experience the tranquillity and see true beauty in this world.
What’s the best thing you’ve seen in the last year?
I went to a wildlife refuge in Oregon that rescued a porcupine from the Los Angeles wildfires. They made some 3D printed shoes for the porcupine to help him walk after injury. Seeing things like that reminds me of the good in the world.
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