Am I Really Meant to Be Here?

Exploring research on Imposter Feelings and Self-Compassion in Runners and Adventurers.

Endurance adventurer and Sport Psychology student Nikki Love shares findings from her research into impostor feelings in runners — exploring why capable, committed people can still feel like frauds, and what self-compassion might have to do with staying in the game.Blending lived experience with emerging psychological research, this talk explores identity, age, comparison and belonging in the running and outdoor community — and asks a simple but powerful question:

Have you ever stood on a start line and wondered, “Am I really meant to be here?”

More About Nikki

Nikki Love is an endurance adventurer, author, speaker, and Sport and Exercise Psychology undergraduate at Loughborough University. At 56, she set the women’s record for running across Australia — covering 4,044 km in 76 days — after completing challenges including 63 marathons in 63 days and multi-country runs across the UK, Ireland, and Europe, all since turning 50.

Now 59, Nikki is entering her “research era,” combining lived adventure with academic study. Inspired by being told she was on the “wrong” side of the bell curve for peak performance, her work explores confidence, belonging, and identity in sport. Her current study investigates impostor feelings and self-compassion in runners and adventurers — sparked by a question she’s heard time and again at start lines and events: “Do I really belong here?”