Kelly Roberts is the woman behind the global running phenomenon Badass Lady Gang…

And in August, she’s bringing a group to the Sydney Marathon Festival for the first time with the help of Australian-based fitness travel company, Adventure Time Travel.   

With its home base in New York, Badass Lady Gang is an inclusive running community that helps women embrace exercise and themselves. 

It all started when Kelly went viral by “posting pics of hot guys on a half marathon”.

Kelly says running became an outlet that helped her find herself and her calling.

“I found it the way most 20 year olds find it, you’re like ‘Oh shit….what do I do with my life?’

“I’m working in a job that I hate….I hate my body and I think I hate myself.

“I’ll run from my problems which is very in vogue right now.

“And eventually running helped me deal with some of the things I was running from.”

Now Kelly is helping other women overcome some of their fears and feel better about themselves. 

“I’m not going to monetise diet culture and quick fixes…the way most people do,” Kelly said.

“And most people want to hear the fantasy….you’ve actually got to do that hard work of going to therapy….

“I’m very purposeful. 

“I don’t do before and afters, I work very closely with my therapist about how and what I share.”

For Kelly the current running boom has been good for business. 

Her online training platforms have continued to grow in popularity and more than 20 women are joining her in Australia in August for the Sydney Marathon Festival – the first since the event became an Abbott World Major Marathon. 

It’s now sold out, with more than 35,000 runners expected to take part. 

 “We’re in the biggest running boom we’ve ever had,” Kelly said.

“I’d love to do it every year and create Badass Lady Gang events for all the majors.” 

Sydney is the latest marathon to become a global major event, joining Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. 

Anna Liptak’s Adventure Time Travel group is organising Badass Lady Gang’s Sydney trip. 

“The hardest part about going abroad is managing how you’re going to get the most out of your trip and then run a marathon while you’re abroad,” Kelly said.

“What do I do on what days? How do I get to the expo? Where do I eat? How can I see the city I’m visiting without blowing my race?” 

“Someone like Anna and Adventure Time Travel is perfect because running a marathon is stressful…Then the added pressure to plan a trip in a different country. Why bother when you have Adventure Time Travel planning the trip of a lifetime for you!” 

Anna and Kelly became fast friends after Kelly watched the documentary Anna made with friends Johnny Taranto and James Wakelin about the 2018 New York Marathon. 

“I’m Not a Runner” is about a group of women taking on their first marathon in New York and their struggles with their bodies and minds to get to the start line. 

For Kelly it resonated, as her work is all about helping women celebrate who they are. 

She believes focusing on weight loss is the wrong approach. 

“You’re saying there is something about you to fix and that’s tied to your weight,” Kelly said.

“We just have this idea that if you’re in a bigger body you can’t be healthy, that you don’t take care of yourself.” 

“We’re all victims of diet culture…people are making billions of dollars out of us.”