Meet the Longevity City2Surf team: Nikki & Angela

Today, Longevity Exercise Physiology Drummoyne, Edgecliff, Marrickville, Castle Hill,  Randwick,  Pymble,  Kingsgrove,  Neutral Bay, and Coburg, have asked more of our team why they have decided to participate in this year’s City2Surf, and how they have been preparing for the event.

Nikki Bohringer: Medical Receptionist at Neutral Bay

I decided to run this year’s City2Surf  in August of last year. Another team member, Annabel, had just run it, and I had been wanting to return to fitness myself, after having my two children. 

As a short distance athlete in high school, I was doubtful that I could EVER run for more than five minutes. I decided that day to jump on the treadmill to see if I could complete a ten-minute run…and I did it!

I was immediately hooked. I thought, if I can run ten minutes straight, it was totally possible for me to learn and achieve 14 km in a year’s time!

I slowly came to learn that running, and daily exercise, entirely controlled my anxiety, which at that time was very prevalent in my daily life. Now, this year will serve as a celebration for something I thought I could never do!

When I was in high school, I participated in track and field. I was a relay runner and hurdler. Despite being less than average in that sport, after two years I never really participated in any other running sport.

My goal for City2Surf is to run the majority of the course. Ideally, I would love to complete it within 1 hour and 45 minutes. But I also want to enjoy the views, the atmosphere, and have fun!

Yes! I train with Andrew Verdon who is also in our Neutral Bay location. I started small getting back into exercise. I had to overcome some postnatal fears, and fear of re-injury from an old complete kneecap dislocation.

Andrew was so patient with me, and with his guidance, I have been able to exercise with complete confidence!

Over time, Andrew helped me build up my strength base, and took me through weekly strength training, which we adjusted every session – I loved the variety of each session, and challenging myself in so many different ways! 

I had a small hiccup a few months ago with a crushed sciatic nerve and glute muscle strain, but Andrew helped me train around that as well, and now I am back on track with my training!

For my running training, Andrew has me doing two small twenty-minute runs in our sessions, on the treadmill, which really improved my confidence with running. He also got me to do a weekend 5 km run, which we have been slowly increasing.



I love that we are all doing the City2Surf together! We are very close as a team in our workplace, and doing this together is another way to spend time with each other. We all have small goals for ourselves as we run and walk the City2Surf, and we will all get to celebrate them at a local cafe in Bondi once we’ve finished. I look forward to that!

Angela Vitucci: Operations Manager

I chose to participate in the City2Surf as I wanted to be a part of the fun Longevity community! I have always wanted to participate in it, however other sporting commitments have always been in the way.

In 2013, I registered, however I had to pull out due to a knee injury. Later that year, I was diagnosed with a heart condition: arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. I now live with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, and I need to limit high intensity exercise. This was a massive change for me.

I had always thought “If you’re not going to run the City2Surf, then why do it?”.

Over the years, I have shown more appreciation for walking due to my own condition, but also through my work, by helping more people improve their aerobic capacity and function. I now understand it’s such a blessing to be able to walk, but to walk the City2Surf with friends and clients is a truly special and enjoyable experience with a large group of people. And that is what I plan to do this year.

I have always been a competitive sports player, and in my spare time, I would go for the odd jog to keep fit. My heart diagnosis changed all of this. In the beginning, I wasn’t fond of walking; I found it boring, and I craved my high intensity exercise with friends. After my diagnosis, I didn’t enjoy walking with others due to anxiety of my heart rate increasing, so participation in a group setting was low.

Over time, I overcame my anxiety by slowly progressing my exercise training each session, under the guidance of my Exercise Physiologist, as well as partaking in cognitive behaviour therapy.

Training with my Exercise Physiologists, Courtney and Grace, has helped me improve my strength and fitness in a controlled manner, and I have gained confidence in myself to be exercising with others again.

I found it very supportive, training with an Exercise Physiologist, as I don’t have to think about what exercise to do. I can talk to them, which helps distract me from thinking about my heart rate – it’s never so hard exercising when you’re doing it with someone else!

I am looking forward to walking with the Longevity team!

I am currently doing three full-body resistance training sessions per week, three 45–60-minute walks per week and one 90-minute walk per week to ensure I am well prepared for the big walk come August.

I have no set goals, just to enjoy the morning walk with the Longevity group and the amazing views. I am so grateful to my body for giving me the opportunity to walk over the finish line!

 Longevity Exercise Physiology Drummoyne, Edgecliff, Marrickville, Castle Hill,  Randwick,  Pymble,  Kingsgrove,  Neutral Bay, and Coburg, are excited to partake in this year’s City2Surf. Come join us! Call 1300 964 002 to join our team.

Written by Nikki Bohringer and Angela Vitucci.