The competitive swimmer turned long-distance runner told the Otago Daily Times as much during her Class Act interview in 2019.
"It’d be cool to represent the silver fern. I’m taking it season by season, trying to keep on improving and see where it takes me," the then Taieri College prefect said.
Turning that dream into a reality as she prepares for the world mountain and trail running championships was somewhat of a full-circle moment when she caught up with the newspaper again recently.
"For it to be happening six years later, it’s a dream come true.
"I’m super excited about it ... but also scary, because, you know, I’ve not raced on the world stage before."
The 24-year-old is heading to Canfranc-Pirineos, Spain, next month to race in the senior women’s short trail distance.
She booked her spot after finishing fifth at the Three Peaks plus one race in Dunedin earlier this year — but it has taken a lot of hard work to get there.
Bungard grew up as a competitive swimmer, winning silver medals in the 100m individual medley and the 200m breaststroke at the New Zealand division two championships.
Then she was roped in to run for the school cross-country team and immediately caught the running bug.
Having a strong sporting background prepared Bungard to take the leap. She walked away from swimming, poured her all into running and started taking it seriously in 2021 when she competed in local 10km races and half-marathons.
She moved into ultramarathons, and being part of Leith Harriers stretched her further, including when she ran the last 30km of the Kepler Challenge in 2024 alongside clubmate Kristy Eyles, which pushed Bungard to a big personal best.
Ultramarathons are the ultimate test of endurance and one Bungard fully embraced.
"I just like being able to push myself and find where my limit is.
"You definitely go to some dark places when you’re running for over five hours kind of thing.
"I just like the challenge of being able to overcome the mental and physical barriers that come with it."
She has a good sounding board in her corner in coach and former Otago triathlete Tony Dodds, who competed at the Rio Olympics and Glasgow and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Bungard first crossed paths with Dodds at Moana Pool when he was coaching triathletes while she was swimming, and when she started to take running seriously, she reached out to him.
"He’s been incredible. If it wasn’t for him, I definitely wouldn’t be in the position where I am now," Bungard said.
"He just knows how to push me to the right point without overdoing it and definitely understands me as an athlete, which makes it so much easier for trainings."
Bungard, who has been well supported by the community, is pounding the pavement, training for up to 120km a week. That includes speed sessions with Leith president Chris Sole’s running group, running after work — "which is always hard in the Dunedin winter" — and getting out into the hills on her own, or with the Leith Lasses, for four hours at the weekend.
All that training is juggled around her career as a medical scientist in histology at Awanui Labs.
"That’s pretty full on ... but I love it — awesome field to be a part of."
Bungard joins a strong southern contingent destined for Spain.
Queenstown’s Katie Morgan will race in the short course alongside Bungard, and Ryan Carr (Queenstown), Dwight Grieve (Fiordland) and Jack Harris (Hill City-University) will line up for the men’s short course.
National champion Juliet Chamberlain, who is now in Dunedin, will race in the senior women’s long trail, Sarah Douglas, of Queenstown, will race in the senior women’s uphill mountain running and Luca Huia (Hill City) will race in the junior men’s under-20 mountain run.
