“Once you push those boundaries of what’s possible, they keep expanding.” – Norma Bastidas

In 2014, Norma Bastidas, ultra athlete and single mother broke the Guinness World Record for Longest Triathlon after swimming, biking and running 3,762 miles (6,054 km) from Cancún, Mexico to Washington, D.C. Prior to that, in 2009, Norma became the fastest female in history to run seven of the planet’s most unforgiving environments on seven separate continents in seven months. That in itself is remarkable but as a single mother, and a survivor of poverty, kidnapping, sexual violence and human trafficking, Norma’s story is extraordinary.

Norma views athletic feats as metaphors for the incredible trials faced every day by the survivors of sexual violence and for those people who are visually impaired. Norma’s mission is to educate and empower, demonstrating to the world that one’s past does not dictate one’s future, and prove that everyday people are capable of making extraordinary strides in the fight against the problems facing the world today.

Norma believes her work will show her children that we can all have a positive impact on other people’s lives and change the world around them.

 



Show Notes
[02:06] Patrick lets us in on a little background to his next interview: a stretch for him outside the typical TEDM conversation towards a topic he felt compelled to shine a light on.
[02:43] An introduction to Patrick’s next guest: Norma Bastidas
[04:42] Norma and Patrick get their conversation underway. Norma challenges the traditional view of success to broaden that definition.
[05:57] Norma shares what she does, what she stands for and why. She is still waking up with new dreams and passions.
[08:39] Patrick shares a bit about how Norma came to be on The Everyday Millionaire.
[09:21] Norma briefly recounts her story of where she has come from in Mexico to how she came to Canada.
[11:40] Norma describes the betrayal that resulted in her being trafficked to Japan at 19 after escaping a kidnapping in Mexico when she was 17 years old.
[13:36] Expanding on the story of her kidnapping, Norma talks about the trauma it left her with and the fearsome reality of the hometown she returned to after her rescue. Personal safety was like playing Russian roulette daily.
[17:45] Limited options, desperation, and naivete at such a young age understandably obstructed Norma’s ability to recognize the deception being presented to her as a modeling job in Japan.
[19:28] Norma details the journey of being courted to escape Mexico. Promises of moving from her current circumstances of working in a gym and on television to modeling and greeting the wealthy in a Studio 54 style environment reveals itself as human trafficking and another kind of prison.
[25:42] Norma talks about her experience to shine a light on human trafficking, what it really is and how it most often looks.
[27:52] Even though it may look a little different, Norma talks about how this imprisonment shows up for indigenous women in Canada.
[29:45] Norma wants to help people understand whether or not a person makes an unknowing choice as she did, whether it’s legal or illegal, trafficking is still exploitation. She urges those who make the choice of engaging in prostitution to make it an empowered choice.
[33:29] The story behind why Norma became a marathon runner. The difficult path of dealing with her son’s cone-rod dystrophy diagnosis and how she coped with these significant challenges in a healthier way than vodka.
[37:32] An invitation from a friend to qualify for the Boston Marathon was all Norma needed to commit. During the helpless time of her son’s recovery, Norma found something she could be in control of.
[38:26] After completing the Boston Marathon,