 She's only the second person in the world to have run the seven of the most difficult environments in seven different continents But the first to do it within seven months in 2014 she swam Biked and ran 3,762 miles from Cancun, Mexico to Washington DC and set a world record for the longest trials on ever her records her awards and her story of how she did this despite a late start And being a mom of two is a remarkable story of human Ingenuity human spirit human energy, but it all actually pales if you compare that to where she Comes from and how she even got here Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Iklif leader leaders room My name is Rajiv and I'm very pleased to have with us today Norma Bastidas all the way from Canada Norma great to have you with us. Hi. Thank you so much Tell us Let's start right from the beginning. Tell us a little bit about your early years and you know getting up to where you've got to you know I was born in Mexico was born and raised in Mexico And now it's it's a well-known area because of the cartels I'm from a place called Culiacan Sinaloa. So, you know, just a regular upbringing, I guess the only thing is From the beginning being raised by a single mother because my father died very very young and that kind of you know The lack of opportunities that the lack of resources having my mom now a single parent of five That's what really led me into a life of you know, incredible hardships But also, you know a lot of successes just because the opportunities weren't given to me So I had to find them. So you were growing up in the family of five Yes, and How what for the early years like, you know, I It's it's you know, like typical to a family in Mexico. I mean my parents didn't have a lot, but you know, they were caring and My my father was a you know, unfortunately was an alcoholic But you know, he had a lot of problems But he also instilled a sense of that education was important And I think I have to really talk about that and give him the credit because for a man who was in Uneducated my dad did not have an opportunity opportunities for education He wanted that for us and so he makes sure that we always had books. So I you know Now looking back, we were very very poor But I mean the things that they weren't pouring in my dad always make sure that even though we didn't have money That there were books in the house. I Think I learned to read at four, you know, my sibling was education was was definitely very important My mom was like any other parent in Mexico, you know, overwhelmed and educated as well You know how to marry young both of my parents were 16 17 with a married So I mean from the start it wasn't the ideal situation But I think is what they did give us is the desire to a better life and that was probably You know what it made me want to continue fighting for you know, the opportunities Unfortunately, like I like I said my dad was an alcoholics in taunta young so that really set the tone for a life of Unfortunately of violence because once you're introduced to that, you know, I always say that they want One door opens and violence and especially when it is a family member Families tend to not deal with it and kind of try to cover up and You know for us, we didn't get the help that we needed So he just kind of snowballed into one kind of violence leads to all the types of violence so you you know You went through a lot of difficulty and personal assaults when you were young How did that happen and how did you cope with all of that? You know, it's hard for me to you know To really kind of make sense of it because you know, my life is so different now, right? And I am the same person. So it's difficult for me to explain to To people that that could happen to somebody like me that it's now Strong in a leader and expeditions and get tackle the most difficult. So how do you go from victim to champion? Exactly, right because I am the same person But it is a lot of the circumstances is it's not being able to talk about violence Especially when when it is something like that that is shameful. It is a violent family member and silence Breeds violence, you know, and that's why now I speak against all these things to educate because that's the best way to fight it Unfortunately was you know, it was a family member and you know, it escalated from physical violence to sexual violence a very very young age Unfortunately the younger that it happens the boundaries get get interrupted and get broken into so you you're really not equipped to be able to reinforce violence to to kind of you know, very Being able to kind of reinforce and say Don't you can do that to me, you know, because your boundaries have been broken You know have been trouble on in that probably now looking back It's it's what led into, you know one type of violence and why it kept happening so many times is because I was not taught The event you know isn't giving the tools to protect myself and when when these things were happening to you You did mention that to your family or you kept it all to yourself. You know, no, I mean he gets as a child I mean, how do you a child can I come for him rape? You know, it's something, you know, it is terrific and you're dealing with a pain But a child doesn't have the vocabulary to say I've been raped, you know, so the child doesn't have I mean I was only 11 and for me I didn't understand sex especially because of you know culturally in Mexico. It's you know now It's a bit different but backed in Sexual education wasn't taught, you know or something that it wasn't discussed So it was just kind of one of those things. I wasn't able to talk. I mean, I just Especially when you know, if it's a family member then you have also that that you know The the family member has some sort of control. It was it was it was my grandfather And you're taught, you know to respect and it is somebody who is supposed to protect you And then it now is telling you that you can't say anything about it So it is a very difficult thing for a child to go through right because I mean I didn't know how to You know, you're taught about stranger but not about a family member, you know And when the family member you taught it's you know, it's especially when he's It's a it's a male and it is It has a status and you watch everybody else Not standing up to him and he has a certain level then, you know, I wasn't able to You know just because he told me not to It seems crazy, but that's why I never said anything for a long time and then your Your your escape came years later or so you thought it was Unfortunately is every single time I tried to escape one, you know one type of violence I ended up in conjuring another because the opportunities weren't there, you know I wasn't able to just kind of say well I'm just going to go to the police and find help because you know There's nobody you can turn to family are all kind of you know trying to protect the secret So when you are even when I even when you are asking for help I just simply say let's just not talk about it and you can't tell anybody else and then so what I do is I try to leave home, you know when I was old enough I left home But then unfortunately I end up being kidnapped in Mexico City, so I you know It just because I didn't take the opportunity wasn't taken in in the highest You know standards it was just you know, it's not like I got a great job offer We just simply trying you know calling my brother that had moved out and I said I you know Can I come and live with you and I was unsupervised when I was 17 and it just happened that randomly I was you know Grabbed on a bus stop and thrown into a car and kidnapped for the first time I was 1718 around that time so you know being from province and like I said, I wasn't you know able to Speak against these bluntly to say why are you doing this to me? I just simply every single time something like that happened or somebody Exercise your authority. I fold it That was my initial reaction because even when I was brave enough as a child to say this happened to me I was blamed and I was shamed so every single time anything that happened I just kept blaming myself, you know, because I found myself, you know in the same situation so in you know same thing so after Fortunately for me. I managed to escape about 24 hours after they had me in a house I managed to convince somebody who came into the house before I was sold to help me out And he did and so now my role was to leave, you know, my understanding of it's like, okay It's not only home. It's Mexico. So What I did is I accepted a job offer to go to Japan and the same thing it was I put myself in a vulnerable position Just because I I mean I needed to continue working because I had to help my family My mom had no money and I was at that point that the highest earner in my family Even though I was only 19 years old and I was the youngest I was the one with the most potential in in our home and so I did and I found myself in The same situation that I try escape and he was not being able to understand the kidnapping and human trafficking Happens and in a different forms, you know I always thought it was like in the movies mask man with a trench coat not a nice person that you know from your neighborhood that you know, she seems Friendly and and and ask you to you know, she says hey, you know, you you are a model You should go to Japan and it happens so subtle and so on scary that you let your guards down and I now understand the grooming process Also, which is enables you to be controlled Which is they become your best friends that became your saviors. They giving you what you need, which is all you need You need to leave Mexico Japan is different such a safe country and you have lots of opportunities and then you do and they taking you in so they they pray they Pretend they're protectors and they pray and vulnerable it is and then that's when then Once they start chipping away at your confidence by taking your passport by Isolating you not understand of the language and all that that's when the pressure starts and you're unable to really help yourself Because by this time you consent it to so many things and now that's how I know that that that's how Predators operate, you know, they make you do something the later, you know You have a hard time going to the police because you either lie or you consent it to something, you know And then make it difficult for you make it very difficult. I accepted knowing that it was Accepted as working visa and Knowing that it wasn't the type of visa that I needed they said don't worry about it You're not an entertainer your model But we're gonna give you so I couldn't go to the police because now I entered the country legally and there are different visa that I needed So I'm in trouble So, I mean it seems simple now. Yeah, but Those are the kind of things they do. Yes. That's that's how it happens and when did you realize? How long into your stay in Japan? Did you realize that things were not what they were supposed to be what they were promised? It was I would say three four months also for the first three four months you didn't realize well I I knew we wasn't but I didn't really end up being in the trouble That I didn't send the extent of what they were going exactly working at a bar Wearing a bikini for example, it is not what I consented and he was absolutely terrifying for somebody like me I was 19 and you know being paraded with little clothing on those and talking and being spoken in it in a different manner. I mean those are things that I didn't but I kind of push back and You know, especially as a woman, especially of certain cultures you learn that You know men have control over you. You're young and if you want something There's some how an exchange it is I'm dignifying for but if you know we place such a value on certain women. They say well, you know you're poor and If you want money, this is what you have to do and it's a terrible thing terrible terrible terrible thing because you know You accept it and I know that it happens all over the world the women especially in certain areas that you know Especially if you don't have money or if you want to be an actress, you know, it's that understanding But it wasn't until the pressure started to you know to be somebody's But by somebody it didn't happen for three months. It was just simply and now I didn't know I was called human trafficking back then. There was no such a thing You know, there was no law against it. I signed a contract and I there was a pressure for me to have sex with somebody I had absolutely no way of going anywhere for help. He became a law 2002 We're talking about 1986-1987 and then how did you manage to get out of that? Yeah, I just simply pay my debt. It was a long time for me nine ten months Something like that. I Had nowhere to go. So I just simply did what they wanted me to do and that's the case for most victims There's no such a thing like the movie that taken where need Liam Neeson comes to your rescue You know, there's not just the things a lot of women there find themselves in those situations have to find a way out So without opportunities You know, I The only reason why it ended is because I was able not only to pay my debt But a school offered to give me a student visa and legal way to say in the country Legal so I had I could ask for for help legally. So What I did is when I was working at a bar, they they were giving tips So I I remember somebody saying that there was they had they were there in the country as a student so I went to their school and start paying for classes and They knew they knew from the moment that I that I walked in that there was something that I found myself in a Situation that I didn't want to be and they said, you know what we can give you a student And then they that became that kindness that kindness of somebody who was able not question They didn't ask me. Are you sure? You know, they didn't treat me like I was garbage because that's from the beginning I mean, we I mean we treat women like, you know, we put value on their virginity so much that you know I had suffer violence and I mean, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I mean, we're just talking about Years and years and I'm just talking in general I mean, even in at school when they found out that I had been kidnapped and In Mexico City and I came back all my classmates I mean all of some I was drugged and raped several times just because I was not a virgin anymore So for them their value, I mean, I had no value So I've been treated like that so many times with people that I knew that I trusted that When I went to Japan by being treated like that By somebody that I didn't know it's terrible but you know and and then I had these Teachers and these people that had a International Japanese school there that they sold the value they they just so past that they just simply said if you don't want to Be there, you don't have to we can give you a student visa We can sponsor you and that's how it happened and so fast forward now a little bit to you then from there Went to Canada and then how did you start running? How did this life start? I mean it really You know and I think that the it is incredible how I mean We're talking about you so many years ago and in my life I was was so different that when I actually start talking about these most people that know me now had Absolutely no idea and I think that's my biggest success and that's a biggest misconception, right that we have that victims are damage and vulnerable in weak and and My life was completely different and I went back to the same thing when I went to Canada became a single parent very very soon I divorced and I had two young boys at three year old and a baby when I became a candidate You did get married. I didn't marry a comedian. That's how I ended up going to Canada And same thing. I kept suffering violence in Japan even after leaving the club. They still you know That's what mafia does, you know, you you never really escaped so I ended up marrying Canadian and moved to Canada See you met him in Japan. Oh, I see. Okay. Yes, and I wanted to leave like I said It's always but fortunately for me Canada was a bit it was very different though my marriage didn't last You know, I was able to find opportunities I went back to school Earned a business administration diploma. I entered the workforce. I was being very very within three years You know, I was climbing the ranks and I was finishing a bachelor of management as well I was on full force to make sure that you know I was going to take care of my kids and they weren't going to suffer what? We suffer as kids having a mom who couldn't work I was going to provide for my children and they never had to find themselves in a vulnerable situation Fortunately for me a few years into in my You know just as I was waiting for a promotion as a manager My son my oldest son became was diagnosed with something just called conrad dystrophy and started to go blind That just absolutely changed everything everything. I lost my job. I Couldn't really get out of bed. I had a very hard time for many reasons It just because the first person to ever rape me was a blind relative that I had to look after You know my son was gone like it was just a bit too much for anybody And he just kind of one of those things that even though I I never really wanted to talk about it now I couldn't deny. I mean I even now I have a hard time because I always say that I sometimes one The lies that I said that never happened to me to be true You know once I decided that I was gonna I needed to confront what happened to me all of it If I was able to help my son, I couldn't just have Burry I couldn't do what my family did which is deny not talk about it So I have to really really face it, but I couldn't just stand up and talk about it So what I I couldn't I couldn't sleep and I needed to be there for my son So I just went for a run one day, you know 3 a.m. 4 a.m My mom came from Mexico to help me out and I just didn't want her to help me to hear me crying so I just went for a run and And that just kind of happened that the difference between handling the trauma of in the past with with drinking Was that I found myself in a bigger hole Running on the other hand and make clear my head I felt better every single time I came from from Iran I was like 6 a.m. Waking up everybody and I felt better. I felt like You know, it was just that He just gave me a purpose, you know, I could lace up and go for a run and come back and I was like, okay This is what we're gonna do. I'm gonna play for another job And so that's how it happened He was so stressful because my son, you know how to help him and he went back to school and you know I had to kind of Teach him how to live differently because now it was a child with a disability that needed accommodations and so It was so much stress that I just kept running within six months somebody noticed that My best friend noticed that I was you know running incredible and I've never really out 38 almost 39 and And she was like wow, you know, you really are running incredible and she just kind of on a dare said You know, maybe you should try to qualify for Boston. It's a long shot. She said, you know Most people have to try for years and that's all I needed. I needed something that I could control I couldn't control so many things that were happening in my life, you know But I could control that I and I it gave me something to look forward in something that I could also I did I build my schedule and I did and I did I qualify for Boston within eight months I run my first ultra marathon 125 kilometer race And he just kind of happened like that. He just you know, I just went full-on doing ultra races how I connected is because I was Going online talking about my training because there was people going to donate for me for one of my races And I said in the poor in my soul And I just kind of you know, it was about Talking about all these things so I made you know My weakness my strength Instead of saying this is something that I should be ashamed Now I'm going to turn it around because I'm tired of carrying these a shame. I'm gonna turn it around I'm gonna be proud of it and that's what I did and but what happened is now People weren't afraid to ask me about how is he doing because they saw that I was trying to you know I was doing something positive about it and that's how the the activism in the sports connected and that was my first time that I Realize that people really connected to the story better when I gave them something that they could Look, you know kind of talk about a difficult topic like my son gone blind and A race because instead of I was thinking about maybe two hundred dollars for the Canadian National Institute for the blind end of collecting 3500 and That's when I went bingo. This is it. This is how people are going to listen to my message You know, they came for one thing and I also educated them. So you gave yourself a purpose I did and that gave you the energy. Yes fantastic and so You know at 39 when you start preparing for these kinds of races and then we haven't even come to your triathlon yet There must have been times when it felt like giving up Because what's couldn't have been easy at 39 and 40 to train yourself? What did you do to keep going? you know the beauty of finding yourself At the bottom is you have nothing to lose. I have something nothing to lose So I just went and didn't focus on anything. I mean there were times I mean the giving up part happened long before You know like when I found myself almost killed at 24 in Japan that I had left my life behind And I had bought my passport and I was in and You know, I was working as a Spokeful fluent Japanese and I was working translator movies and then you know Somebody put something on my drink and I walk up completely Unconscious and disfigured and I just felt the heaviness I thought you know because they just wanted me to remind me that I Couldn't escape my past that it was always going to come back. They just want to revenge That's giving up. That's the moment when I thought I am so tired Race is only on the hand I'm I get tired, but I don't feel like quitting You know, it's a difference between pain and suffering pain. It's a wonderful thing because Because it's tied to a success to a goal pain is sometimes what it takes to accomplish something great University, I mean if you want to be a doctor You're gonna spend lots of you know, painful nights studying or you know, so there's a difference between pain and suffering So once you understand both one is tolerable. You just have to help manage You just have to understand your body really well. You have to have a strategy plan. I Am so glad I'm not in the suffering stage anymore. So that's why I can I can take the goals But the the catalyst to do something became your son's Eye condition, but you had been in difficult situations before as we were just talking about But it took the situation with your son Yes, that that became the turning point not all the things that terrible things that happened to you my son Any was the desire this was greater than myself and that's what I do now This is the purpose once I went this is for somebody else not for me You know so even in a situation that kind of situations that you found yourself in What I'm hearing is that the purpose once it's greater than yourself That's when it gets exactly and that's why everything I do is tied up to you know Not to myself and I mean I could do these things and now I'd be public and it's fine but once I get You know an organization or talking about human trafficking like for example that the world record Triathlon was falling the human trafficking route and I have survivors telling the story as I'm crossing all these areas. I mean I had to swim 122 miles and I couldn't swim before that. I had to learn to swim to break the record but because I encounter such a And so lack of empathy to tell the story a lot of people didn't want to talk about human trafficking They were like well, we feel bad, but this is ugly We just talk about I mean, let's talk about sport and that kind of make me angry. I see him You know, we're so willing to give medals to people who do and I mean I think they do but but also people that survive incredible odds You know, those are the people that we also be celebrating So it was their inability to want to talk about that they wanted to talk and that's why I just went bigger I just said, okay Let's do a triathlon. I'm gonna learn to swim and I almost Treffled the record because I mean the more resistance and the more people that I wanted to help the better I get I Couldn't do these things for myself and so To conclude what's next for you? What do you want to spend the next 10 years of your life doing? Wow? I mean, there's so many things. I just you know, I really want to continue You know finding things they're scaring me, you know, like going tours. That's where growth happened You know if every time I'm trying to and I'm always trying to be in tune and where the opportunity is like not to be so Busy just just would you know with the goals, but and I listened in every time I find myself in a situation that I just I cannot possibly comprehend how I'm gonna do it That's what I do. That's where I go every single time I Feel this is impossible then that's I put everything on the side that gets you going Wonderful well, thank you so much for sharing So openly and so intimately what you what you what you've gone through and I Commend you for for doing that because not only is that an inspiration for a lot of people I hope everybody that's listening and watching today There's so many lessons that you can get out of this But the one that's that remains with me is once the purpose that you define for yourself is greater than yourself Then absolutely nothing is impossible So with that normal. Thank you very much. It was great to have you with us. Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thank you Thank you