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Event 36 - Eastbourne Half Marathon

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After two pretty spectacular events completed in Sydney Australia, it was a bump back to the reality of cold, wet England for event number 36 although I count myself very lucky with the weather. There have been almost constant storms here for 3-4 weeks. Hail was battering the house the night before this race and as I parked up before the event, the heavens opened again. Listening to the thunderous noise of what was coming out of the sky made me laugh out load. How crazy an idea to be running a half marathon today haha! I stayed in the warmth of my car for half an hour and finally the sun peeked out. I ventured outside to the start line, navigating the muddy waterlogged field in the freezing cold and ditched my coat at bag drop - only for the heavens to open once more (luckily I was sheltered in the bag drop!) After sharing a few race stories of the Brighton half last weekend (which I missed this year due to being in Sydney) with a fellow participant and wishing each other luck, o
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Event 34 - Clontarf to Mosman Parkrun, Manly Scenic Walkway

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My first event outside of the UK and boy this one was spectacular! I’m currently in Australia to visit my niece and nephew (with a cheeky detour to the Great Barrier Reef to fulfil a lifelong ambition and it didn’t disappoint - stunning, awesome, inspiring. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to experience and see the GBR, I definitely left wanting more!) I’m now in Sydney and following the terrible fires and then torrential rain and floods, I’ve been pretty lucky with the weather. It’s not as warm and sunny as it usually is this time of year but it’s perfect conditions for running.  I wanted to do some Parkrun touring so found the nearest Parkrun to where I was staying in Clontarf and lucky for me the route to get to Mosman Parkrun on Spit Bridge is along the Manly Scenic Walkway. What luck! So I combined Parkrun with the journey there and back and voila! Event 34 of Raquels 40 Race Challenge was born. Beautiful rocks, stone steps, waterfalls and beaches along the route. This is
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Event 33 - Britri Stamina VII Back to the Future

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On a very cold January 2020 morning, Britri members and junior tristars gathered in Stanmer Park for the seventh stamina event. Seb and I really enjoyed last years event so it was a no brainier we’d turn up to this one. This is a two hour endurance event with a bit of map reading thrown in, and some strategy. Hill running is the order of the day - not everyone’s cup of tea but for me it’s a great way to get you up and down hills as you don’t want to let your team down!  Seb had a virus that lasted since mid December, I’ve been very worried about him. He was desperate to do this event with me as he had serious cabin fever!! So I relented and let him take part. He did a super job and really enjoyed himself. He needed to rest after this event though, it does take it out of you if you are not 100% The other bonus today was receiving my limited edition Britri Woody hat - gotta love a bobble hat lol it’s got the most giant bobble I’ve ever seen!  Sadly mine and Seb’s team didn’t win t
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Events 31& 32 - Great South Run & Mince Pie Run 2019

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Much has been happening since my last blog post! It’s fair to say that the food poisoning episode in September knocked me for six and despite carrying on and completing Event 30 Hever Castle Gaunlet/ Half Iron, I didn’t fully recover for a very long time.  The Great South Run (October 20th) was a fantastic event for me. I went back to my uni town, Portsmouth, to take part in the same race I’d completed 18 years earlier and on a beautiful day, no rain this time. There were no restrictions on running through the docks - no bomb scare today! I started out quite fast and felt great so just carried that on the whole 10 miles. Although I felt tired towards the end I knew I was close to a PB so that kept me motivated and I went over the finish line in 1hr 29 mins 47 seconds - hugely pleased to get under an hour and a half. The weight loss from being ill definitely helped! (Sadly said weight loss has piled back on now - never mind!) December 8th - Event 32 Mince Pie Run Having l
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Event 30 - Hever Castle: The Gauntlet

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Brutal ....absolutely brutal! This was Half Iron day, I’d entered it (crazy!), actually turned up despite the terrible weather forecast of torrential rain and high winds (delusional haha) and it was happening (eeek!!). On arrival at Hever Castle it was announced that all the waves had been delayed by an hour due to safety and checking the roads. The officials decision was made that we wouldn’t do the bike course. Instead we would use the Olympic distance 20km cycle circuit and do that three times. So today I did a 1.9km swim, 60km bike ride and a half marathon. So I feel a little cheated that I didn’t actually get to compete a half iron, I was 30km short on the bike.... sob. It was lovely to meet Mike from my Britri group in transition before we started - definitely think he got a faster time than me.....I knew I would be slow following last weekends shenanigans in hospital on a drip due to having food poisoning for an entire week which meant I missed the Ragnar White Cliffs event
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Event 24 - Britri Palace to Paddle 2.5km sea swim

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While you were probably all still slumbering in your beds, at 6am this morning I was at Brighton Pier for the 24th event of my challenge. This was a 2.5km sea swim, part of the Paddle Round the Pier Festival 2019 and organised by Britri, who I have to say did an excellent job. Thank you to all the volunteers and the lifeguards giving up your time so early in the morning and all day to support the other events going on. This year there was also a 1.5km and a 3.8km swim. I was brave and went for the 2.5km. To put you in the picture of where I was at in terms of preparation and training....I've never swam further than about 400m in the sea ever! The swim was cut short for the Brighton Triathlon last September due to adverse weather conditions and I've been in the sea twice since then, both times in very choppy conditions. The Saltdean Lido opened a few weeks ago just at the same time I realised this event was three weeks away and I got "the fear"...so I've been tra
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