We’ve all heard of Santa Claus, who can allegedly go around to every house in the world in one night delivering presents. But, respectfully to Mr Claus, take away the magical reindeer and the sleigh - would he still be able to accomplish such a task?

Nicola, may work on a smaller scale, delivering many parcels daily around Kiama Downs and Gainsborough, but she doesn’t rely on a flying reindeer. Instead, she chooses a different method - she runs.

“I literally run my whole route” says Nicola. “It's just something that's developed. I don't even think about it. As soon as I open my van door, my feet touch the ground and off I go.”

This unorthodox approach has made Nicola something of a local legend in Kiama, with residents regularly seeing the 54-year-old jog through the streets, parcels tucked under her arms.

“I think it’s created a bit of fun in the area. But truly it's just my personality coming out in my day, I still just focus on delivering safely, correctly and on time. For me it just turned out that this is the most effective way to do it” she says.

Originally from England and trained as a Beautician, Nicola had to close her home beauty salon during COVID and became a Delivery Partner for Australia Post in March 2020. Since then, she’s never looked back.

“I love what I do. I love working in and around the community. Adding a little difference to what I do makes it more enjoyable, because it can be a really high-pressure job” she says.

Nicola says the relationships she has been able to build with the Australia Post customers has been an absolute highlight of her role and is something that gets her through the day.

“It can be a really hard day, but people say Hello to me that many times every single day and Thank you so many times a day and How are you? so many times a day, you cannot get through the day without feeling uplifted,” says Nicola.

Nicola’s day usually begins with a rude alarm at 4:30am and then she is at the Australia Post depot by 5:30am. She then spends the next three hours sorting the packages into delivery areas (Santa would never) and leaves the depot before 8:30am to start her deliveries.

Christmas is always the busiest time of year. Nicola delivers many more parcels than a usual day, working five days a week, with extended six, six-day weeks in the lead-up to Christmas Eve.

These six, six-day weeks are challenging, but Nicola’s philosophy is that she gives herself a little reward at the end of her working day - and this keeps her happy and motivated.

“Like this afternoon after work I sat on Jones Beach and then I went to Kiama rock pool and had a dip. And it feels good, you know. After my busy days, it's really important for me to have a little bit of a ‘holiday’ - even if it's just for an hour,” she says.

Given her delivery method, it’s no surprise that Nicola is an avid runner. Most days, she finishes her deliveries and then heads out for a 10km run. In 2023-24, she competed in two marathons, a triathlon, several half marathons, and multiple 10k races.

But come Christmas Eve, after delivering that last parcel, Nicola will put her feet up and let Father Christmas handle the deliveries on the 25th. And maybe, just maybe, Santa will deliver a little something special to Nicola’s stocking this year (and Santa if you’re reading - maybe just for her house you can get out of the sleigh and put a jog on).