Raquel's 40 Race Challenge

On Sunday 17th February 2019 myself and a group of the Runpals descended on Slindon for a 10 mile trail run with a bit of mud and water thrown in. Not sure how this seems to happen when generally the British weather can be well....pissy! but the sun always seems to be shining for my challenges :-) The organisers had provided childcare for the event so with my two girls settled in and happily colouring, playing games and the like I went off to find the pals and prepare (which basically means queue for the loo and talk about to sexy pace or not to sexy pace?!!) Mmmmm you are wondering! Jon, Matt, Leigh and Conrad said they were going to be running sexy pace and did I want to join them? After a bout of tonsillitis and this being only day 5 of a course of antibiotics to clear said infection I was very happy to hear no one was attempting this run fast....apart from Des of course! The scenery is stunning for this run. A mix of Slindon pits (the mud and water bit), woods, o...

Fast forward a month to January..... Xmas hadn't been the best as I came down with a throat infection on Xmas day after running around after Amelie with the same illness in the run up to Xmas. I was house bound for a week but was determined to start January positively and embark on my Red January challenge  - to exercise every day of the month to promote good mental health. Red January went very well but I had cough for a month that quite frankly just irritated me. Luckily I didn't feel ill with it but on long runs the coughing was very annoying! By the end of January Seb and I were feeling super fit and very ready to take on the Maverick Challenge. We went for the middle distance of 15km. A trail run around the beautiful area of Amberley. I must apologise at this point that I didn't realise until today that this event was even part of my challenge. Not all big events that I have done, are! In addition to this challenge, I've also done Britri Run the Snails (14km)...

This month is was all things Xmasy! Brighton City Race took place on Saturday 22nd December - its so close to Christmas and dashing around the Lanes of Brighton in the evening when shoppers are doing last minute panick present buying and the other half are spilling out onto the streets merry and intoxicated from all the Xmas parties make this event really fun. Everyone around you is intrigued by the maniacs racing around with head torches on and maps clutched in the hand and the competitors just hope that the curiosity of the intoxicated revellers hasn't ended up in one of the orienteering controls being half inched as a bit of fun!! I was full of energy that day and had taken the kids to the Olympia Horse Show in London which I've always wanted to go and see and it was as awesome as it is on TV. We had to cut the day short to make it back to Brighton for this race and we made it in plenty of time. Dibber at the ready Seb and I went out determined to do well as we'd t...

9th December 2018 - This event was a family affair in more ways than one. Of course Brighton and Hove Albion has to be the biggest family in Brighton and all of our family went, Gareth, Seb, Sienna, Amelie and me. And when we arrived, our Runpals family was also there in the masses! This was a short run of 2km so the little ones can take part and for me the biggest draw was getting the blue Santa hat! It was a very chilly day and we all congregated in the stadium to meet gully and say our hellos to fellow runners! This was my second attempt at doing an event with all three of my youngest children - fingers crossed! We all set off in good spirits and wait for it..........about 200m into the run and just out of eyesight of Daddy, Amelie decided she didn't want to run. Who could have guessed lol?! After coaxing, cajoling, bribing and begging to no avail, I picked Amelie up and just ran with her in my arms but after a while that got pretty exhausting as despite my protestations, Amel...