As a full time working parent of 3 lively boys, I struggle to motivate myself to exercise with no clear goals. I spend much of my time on trains, in meetings and on the sidelines of a sports pitch.

I recently watched an inspiring series of talks by female adventures and knew that I wanted to find a challenge that pushed me beyond my limits,  but it had to be something that did not take me away from home or work for too long.

Through an online forum, I met Allie Bailey (#AB Runs) who had been on the recce for the Mongol 100 with #Rat Race adventure sports as
part of their Bucket list series.

Allie’s tales of the Mongol 100 recce got to me and I signed up within a week of hearing about it. 8 days in a remote corner of North-Western Mongolia with no phone signal, having to concentrate on staying
alive and achieving 100 miles on my own 2 legs ticked the boxes.

The race is run on Lake Khovsgol, one of 17 ancient lakes in the World over 2 million years-old and which contains the World’s purest fresh water. The shores are lined with ancient stands of boreal forest and packed with Wolves. It is serene, hostile, stunning, intimidating... they say! In winter, the ice freezes across its entire near-100-mile length to a depth of over a metre thick, creating the ultimate adventure challenge course. The race objective is to traverse the entirety of the lake from north to south, by any means: Foot, skate or bike, I will be on foot.  It is also the inaugural race in the Rat Race Bucket List Series of global adventures.

When I started to tell friends and family about my upcoming challenge, they all thought I was mad and asked if they could sponsor me. I started searching for a charity that would inspire me to keep going throughout the race. Having served in the British Army for 19 years, a charity for veterans was one of my initial thoughts. When I read about what Walking with the wounded do, I felt that the cause: supporting a pathway for vulnerable veterans to re-integrate back into society and sustain their independence was perfect. 

The outcome of their work is sustainable employment, and independence for them and their families.

I started my training for the event in mid November. I have never experienced the -40’ temperatures that I will be racing in and have never run a marathon let alone 100 miles. I am on a steep learning curve and am getting my training in at 0530 before the rest of the house wakes up in order to be back for the school run and work. At weekends, I am trying to get more mileage in, between taxi driving and spectating at the boys' sports matches. I am lucky to be supported by my boys, my parents and my long suffering boyfriend.

https://ratracebucketlist.com/mongol100/

I am funding the race and kit myself, no sponsorship money goes towards anything to do with the race, it will all go to the charity.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.