She has a quiet determination about her, a steely resolve, and by her own admission, never gives up.
It's that determination that may have helped her push through some tragic times.
Seven years ago her 26-year-old son died in a car crash, four months after her stepfather and brother-in-law had passed away. Two months following the crash, her sister succumbed to cancer and two months after that her brother also died.
In nine months, five members of her family had died.
Then last March her only remaining sibling died from cancer.
"My previous employers suggested I take a bit of a break. My response was to dig real deep. I let them know I had a job to do and they needed to stop tiptoeing around as I wasn't going anywhere.
"I never let them see me at less than optimal and I did pull it together. It wasn't easy, but looking back it was a doddle really because we'd already done the hardest thing in our lives.
"When you turn up at a hospital expecting to see your child knocked about a bit, and two police folk walk through the door instead of a doctor and you have to identify your beautiful child, you know you're facing the biggest mountain you'll ever climb."
She wipes a tear away and pushes her curly, dark hair off her face.
"Everything tipped upside down then. It was a horrible, horrible place to be."
The 55-year-old said she remained strong inside and believed she would make it through.
"It was knowing you could get through the day because you had got through yesterday. I look back now and think 'did that really happen?'. We were dealing with one day at a time."
Then her steely determination kicked in.
"My goals? To get back on my feet, physically and my spirit. I also like to do stuff to inspire my girls to keep them buoyed up, that although our lives got shattered we have to live all that much more because Jeremy is not here to live his life, otherwise it was all for nothing.
"I remember lying on our bed watching the dawn light creep across the ceiling the morning after the accident and this thought popped into my head very clearly, 'This could kill you'. I am not going to let that happen.
"That's all there was, just this clarity. And it could kill you, the pain was so bad, and it could also blow your marriage. I was going to hold all of us together. And I have."
Barb reckons turning her lifestyle around was the best decision she has made. Losing her last sibling pushed her to the edge of a very scary place.
Thankfully the increase in exercise and nutritious food has improved her well-being.
Then there was the decision to run the Great Wall of China after her friend Viv suggested it.
Combine that with amazing family support and Barb says she has a winning formula.
"A long-suffering husband and three gorgeous girls who keep me grounded and inspire me to keep going. I'm so lucky to be competing alongside my twin daughters in China. If she wasn't working in the mines in Western Australia, our youngest daughter would be running with us too.
"My parents, sister, brothers and son aren't here to run and jump so we are living large because they can't."
Since its inception in 1999, the Great Wall Marathon has become revered as one of the world's most challenging marathons.
Barb's new found passion for running has taken her places, and steps, around Whangarei she never knew existed.
"The hardest step is putting the shoes on. Once you are dressed you are right and just have to get out the door."
Her husband Terry gives her some encouragement on the mornings she is slow to get going -- he pushes her out of bed.
"You come back feeling fantastic."
Also having a professional team of athletic advisers, including endurance sports coach Murray Healey and Dream It director Michael Davis, has kept her on track to achieve her dream on May 16 and what will be her first visit to China.
"I know I can do it and having a good solid plan is going to get me there.
"For me it's about finishing and feeling great. I want to be in great shape for the after-party ... I can't afford to miss that," she says with a cheeky smile.
"I'm very grateful I have good health. No one else in my family did. I've got to maximise it."
And this not-so-ordinary woman reckons: "The reality is life is full of stumbling blocks, success is turning them into stepping stones."
* Ever thought about stepping outside your comfort zone and running one of the world's great marathons? Check out www.dreamit.co.nz