Taking her running career seriously has helped Catriona Bisset deal with serious mental health issues.
Now it's taken the little-known Victorian all the way to October's world athletics championships in Doha.
The 24-year-old slashed almost a second off her 800m PB on the final day of the national titles on Sunday, with the winning time of two minutes 00.48 seconds moving her inside the Australian alltime top 10.
"I was shocked that no one got me in the last 100," said Bisset, who is doing a Master of Architecture and and a Diploma of Chinese language at Melbourne University.
"I was running scared the whole time and I had no idea I would get the qualifier. That's completely not in the plan for the year.
"The plan was just go back to uni and work and be a normal club runner.
"It's been crazy."
Bisset has made giant strides in the sport ever since moving to Melbourne two years ago and linking up with Cathy Freeman's old coach Peter Fortune.
Athletics has also helped her deal with mental health issues.
"I was going through a really bad patch with just these horrible cycles of depression around my under-grad," she said.
"I found that the crazy routine of running was really good for that."
Georgia Griffith was second in 2:01.26 and former 400m star Morgan Mitchell was third in 2:01.60.
The men's 1500m was a more straightforward affair, with Luke Mathews claiming the win in 3:43.15 ahead of former training partner Ryan Gregson.
Mathews mimicked the "ice in my veins" celebration made famous by NBA star D'Angelo Russell after crossing the finish line.
"I might have just got people on an off-day and I just ran really good," said Mathews, the 800m bronze medallist at last year's Commonwealth Games.
Naa Anang and Celeste Mucci both successfully completed the final legs of historic doubles on Sunday.
Anang beat her great domestic rival and national record holder Brooke Stratton in the long jump with 6.88m.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the 24-year-old Queenslander pocketed the gold in the women's 100m.
It was the first time in Australian championships history that a woman had won the two events.
Mucci became the first female since Jane Flemming in 1994 to win the heptathlon and 100m hurdles.
The 100m hurdles was thrown wide open when Sally Pearson withdrew after the heats and Mucci stepped into the breach, claiming the win in 13.09.
Evergreen Lauren Wells dipped under the 55-second mark for the first time to win her 12th national 400m hurdles title in 54.87.
It was a huge breakthrough for the 30-year-old Wells, who has successfully combined athletics and primary teaching in the past 12 months.
Competing off an eight-step run-up, Kurtis Marschall bombed out at 5.30m to finish sixth in a pole vault competition won on countback by Angus Armstrong (5.50m).
