The three-time Otago marathon champion preferred horse riding, football and cricket growing up.
But now, just three years after her first competitive race, the 38-year-old Dunedin runner is about to compete in her first Auckland marathon.
Tomorrow's race doubles as the national championships, and Aitken is aiming for an age group placing and a top-10 overall finish.
She will be up against the likes of Katikati's Sally Gibbs and Wellington's Katie Kemp, who finished third in last year's event.
But Aitken is in the form of her life and has every reason to be brimming with confidence.
Just last weekend, the three-time Otago marathon champion capped her preparation for Auckland with a commanding win in the Cromwell half marathon (1hr 21min 20sec).
In other notable achievements this year, Aitken was second in the Christchurch marathon in a personal-best 2hr 49min 13sec; won the Wanaka and Hawaii half marathons, won national cross-country and road championship titles in the 35-plus section, won the Motatapu marathon and won Otago marathon and cross-country titles.
Not bad for someone who did not care for athletics when she was a teenager at Logan Park High School.
''I hated anything closely associated with athletics,'' Aitken said.
''It always hurt. School sports days would normally be avoided and spent at home with my horses. Mum would assist with writing a note to let me avoid school sports.''
But eventually Aitken, who was born and bred in Dunedin and holds the rank of inspector with the New Zealand Police, got into running.
Her first competitive race was the 23km Otago Peninsula Challenge three years ago. She finished 24th overall in a solid 1hr 57min 46sec and caught the running bug.
She started entering almost every local event, and in September, 2012, won her first Otago marathon title.
''I am fiercely determined and competitive with myself,'' she said.
''I keep looking for options that will let me raise the bar on my own progress. I love to work hard and feel those endorphins when you crack out a new PB or know you have put everything into it and had a good result.
''It's quite addictive, but a healthy addictive.''
As good as Aitken was in her first couple of years, this year has been her best to date.
She can cross the finish line after 21.1km looking as if she has just been for a stroll in the park.
Aitken credits her form to a change in diet after watching Nigel Latta's documentary on sugar last September.
''The penny dropped,'' she said.
''We made a conscious decision to look at what we were eating - way too many carbs and refined sugar. I thought I could run it off so I could eat what I liked.''
Aitken taught herself how to cook healthy food from scratch, while learning more about ''hidden stuff'' in processed food.
Endurobeet sponsored her after she researched the benefits of eating beetroot to increase her performance.
''I really think it has been a combination of things that have helped,'' she said.
''I just feel so much better physically and mentally. A lot of it is probably the mindset stuff, but if you go into a race knowing you have done every possible thing to give yourself the best starting point, then that really helps with the positive vibes when the starter gun goes.''
Although she appears to
ease through races, Aitken said that was not the case.
She breaks down races into 5km segments and imagines where that distance would place her running from home to work.
Aitken aims to run about 140km with one rest day a week. But if she falls short due to work commitments, she does not let it get to her.
The Leith runner has been ''very lucky'' to so far dodge injuries, and said ensuring her shoes were balanced and wearing evenly was important.
Aitken's husband Steve also enjoys running.
''I think I warp his sense of what is normal in terms of training distances,'' Aitken said.
''So I am finding he is out doing longer miles than what others would consider normal. I get a real buzz out of seeing him doing well and enjoying it too.''
After tomorrow's race, Aitken plans to run the Queenstown marathon on November 22 and the Kepler Challenge - her first 60km race - next month.
