The long run

Mention Megan Graham’s name around Marlborough and many people will know her as the Queen of the Withers. Yet behind the local legend is a story that reaches far beyond the hills above Blenheim, one of international squash, unexpected challenges, Olympic dreams and a lifelong passion for helping others discover what they are capable of.

Words: Rachel Enright

Most Marlborough people know Megan Graham (née Craig) as the Queen of the Withers.

For years, she has been a familiar face at the annual King and Queen of the Withers race, collecting title after title on the punishing 10-kilometre course that winds across the ridgelines above Blenheim. Mention her name in local running circles and chances are someone will have a story about seeing her crest another hill, seemingly unfazed by the challenge.

What many people don't realise is that long before she earned that title, Megan was representing New Zealand on squash courts around the world, competing at the Commonwealth Games and funding her own professional sporting career while building a personal training business on the side.

Running may be what Marlborough knows her for today, but squash was her first love.

"My main sport wasn't actually running," she says with a laugh. "It was squash."

Growing up in a sports-loving family, Megan was introduced to the game at a young age. Some of her earliest memories involve hitting squash balls around the family kitchen with her siblings, using improvised sweatbands fashioned from underwear balanced on their heads.

When she was 14, she won her first national title. Soon after, she began making New Zealand development teams and travelling internationally. At just 15 years old, she found herself representing New Zealand in Chennai, India.

For a teenager from Blenheim, it was a world away from home. She remembers the heat, the humidity, the five-star hotel provided for competitors and even matches interrupted by power cuts.

"You'd be in the middle of a game and suddenly the whole building would go dark," she recalls. "Everyone would just sit there waiting for the power to come back on."

Those early trips opened her eyes to the world and fuelled an ambition to compete on the world stage. "I remember being at school and watching the Olympics and Commonwealth Games and thinking, 'I want to go there one day.'"

Among the influential figures she encountered along the way was New Zealand squash legend Susan Devoy, who coached one of Megan's early New Zealand teams.

"She was very firm and expected hard work," Megan says. "But she was incredible to learn from." The pair still keep in touch today.

For squash players, the Commonwealth Games represented the pinnacle. In 2014, that dream became reality when Megan was selected to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The lead-up to the Commonwealth Games also brought an unexpected health challenge. During a routine pre-Games medical screening, doctors identified an underlying heart condition that had gone undiagnosed for years.

Despite the shock, Megan was able to compete before returning home for surgery. Looking back, she feels fortunate that the condition was discovered when it was.

Although she didn't return with a medal, Megan considers competing at the Commonwealth Games one of the greatest achievements of her life. While there, she reached another career milestone, facing Malaysian superstar Nicole David, widely regarded as one of the greatest squash players the sport has ever seen.

School children would often ask if she had won gold.

“No…” she’d tell them, “But I went. Getting there was the dream.”

For Megan, that’s a lesson worth sharing. She hopes to inspire the next generation to understand that even if you work incredibly hard and do everything right, you still might not win, and that’s okay.

“It’s about how you get back up and keep going anyway.”

Like many athletes in minority sports, however, competing internationally was rarely glamorous. Squash required full-time commitment but offered limited financial reward. Megan completed her personal training qualifications while travelling and competing, building a client base in Blenheim to help fund her sporting ambitions.

She would train clients for a few days, fly overseas for a tournament, return home and repeat the process all over again. "It cost more than it made," she says.

There were times she slept in airports because she couldn't afford a hotel room before a flight. She travelled to incredible cities but often saw little more than the squash courts because there wasn't money left over for sightseeing.

Yet she never lost sight of why she was doing it. "I wanted to do it for the love of it."

Support from the Marlborough community played a significant role. Fundraisers and sponsorship helped her continue competing internationally and reinforced the strong local connections she still values today.

After spending around eight years on the professional tour, Megan began a new chapter.

She married husband Keegan, continued growing her personal training business and eventually became a proud mother of three. Life shifted again when she suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon on the squash court. Recovering from a serious injury while caring for young children tested her in entirely new ways.

Her comeback, however, reflected the same determination that had carried her through years of elite sport. After recovering from the injury, Megan returned to the national squash stage and finished second behind New Zealand squash great Joelle King.

"Coming back after that was pretty special," she says. These days, squash remains part of her life, but running has become increasingly important.

The Wither Hills have long been her training ground. Growing up nearby, she spent countless hours running and training on the tracks that overlook Marlborough.

Even after years spent travelling overseas, the hills remained one of the things she looked forward to most when returning home. "When I'm up in the hills running, I genuinely feel like I'm on top of the world."

That connection eventually translated into remarkable success at the King and Queen of the Withers event. Over the years Megan has amassed around 10 Queen of the Withers titles, making her one of the event's most successful competitors.

The title has become so well known that local children now recognise her because of it.

One neighbour recently told her that her daughter thought Megan's title was "Queen of the Wizards". Meanwhile, Megan's own daughter has plans of her own. "She thinks she's going to take the title one day," Megan says.

Now, alongside running and squash, Megan is focused on helping others move.

Together with Keegan, she operates a personal training studio that works with everyone from aspiring young athletes to older adults wanting to stay active and independent.

Over the past year she has also launched Move With Megs, an online fitness community designed to help people fit exercise into everyday life. What started as an idea during Covid lockdown has grown into a community approaching 100 members.

Workouts are delivered through a private Facebook group and are intentionally simple, affordable and realistic. Rather than polished studio productions, Megan's workouts reflect the realities of family life.Children occasionally wander into frame, she trips over Duplo blocks, notices mismatched socks halfway through a workout and laughs off the inevitable bloopers that come with filming around young children.

"The group tell me it feels like I'm in the room with them," she says. People seem to appreciate that authenticity. The teachers at her son's kindergarten often complete the workouts together before work, while children regularly join in alongside their parents at home. "I just want people to enjoy moving," she says.

There may still be another chapter in Megan's sporting story. After decades of lobbying and near misses, squash will finally make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, a milestone the sport has been chasing for years.

"We've got so close so many times," Megan says. "Then another sport would get selected ahead of us. To finally see squash get there is massive." The announcement has reignited excitement throughout the squash community, including players who had been preparing to retire.

"There are people who were almost ready to finish and now they're hanging on because they want a shot at the Olympics."

Megan admits the possibility has crossed her own mind. Her Achilles remains the biggest physical hurdle and Olympic selection would be fiercely competitive, with New Zealand likely to have only one or two places available. Still, she isn't ruling it out entirely.

"I'd absolutely love to go, but if not, watching it at the Olympics will be a highlight"

Whether she ever returns to the international stage or not, her passion for squash remains as strong as ever. At the same time, she's content with the chapter she's in now.

But whether she's on a squash court, running through the Withers or filming a workout for her growing online community, the motivation remains the same.

Helping people discover what they are capable of.

"Everyone deserves to feel like the best version of themselves."