Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads: A Year of Adventure and Making Lots of New Friends :-)

Tuesday, 30 December 2014

A Year of Adventure and Making Lots of New Friends :-)

So as we come to the end of yet another year, for some of us it's time to reflect on the past 12 months and all the adventures we've had.

For me, it's been a pretty awesome year again and whilst I may not have set the local running scene alight with outstanding performances in any of my races, I've had so much fun both out on the trails and on the roads, and have met lots of fantastic and pretty amazing people along the way.

I'm not going to go over all my races again - if you're that interested, you are more than welcome to read previous entries to see what I've been up to - but I will mention some of my favourites moments from this year and I know that they will stay in my memory for a very long time:

Del and Kim in Red Deer

Winning the Red Deer Marathon back in May on a cool and rainy day, and celebrating with good friend Kim, who won the half on the same day - not bad for 2 ultra runners!

Banff to Jasper Relay

The Calgary Road Runners BJR Team (minus a couple)

The Banff to Jasper Relay was pretty awesome - a great bunch of people in superb surroundings, and an outstanding event - I can't wait to do it all again next year!

Final presentation at K-Triple

The Kananaskis Triple - 3 consecutive days of trail racing in the mountains covering around 80km in total and 15,000 ft of climbing - who would have thought that a girl from Stoke could finish 3rd lady overall?!

6am and just before the start of Iron Legs 50 miler

Iron Legs 50 miler - super super tough race but one of the BEST ultras I have ever done.

Berg Lake at the foot of Mt Robson

Mount Robson Marathon - absolute paradise at the foot of Mount Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, the beautiful Berg Lake, and certainly a race that I would love to go back to and race properly

A borrowed bike for the Blitz Duathlon

Competing in my first duathlon and finishing 3rd lady - yep, this girl has cycling legs too

Happy with a 3.06 in Toronto Marathon

And finally, the Toronto Marathon where good friend Dawn ran an excellent PB, I finished 3rd masters and was in the money, and of course, I got to meet Dawn's wonderful family.

I've also had some pretty spectacular training runs, none more so that when joining Joanna back in the summer where we headed up Heart Mountain and then the following day we both joined Emily and Sean for a 50km run through Assiniboine Provincial Park - an absolutely wonderful weekend with super friends in fantastic surroundings. And then more recently, wintry training runs with our very good friends Glady and Michelle and their network of friends that are now our friends too - and all the runners that have joined Mahogany Running Club throughout the year.

Fab day out in the mountains with Joanna, Emily and Sean

A few members of the Mahogany Running Group

Wintry run with good friends

Of course, none of this would be possible if it weren't for Andy allowing me to pursue my goals and dreams - he's an absolute star and I know that I would be nothing without him. In addition, I have 2 exceptional friends that never let me down, they are with me through the good and the bad runs, the happy days and the sad, and they stand by me no matter what. They run with me, walk with me, share my food, they've been on camping trips with me and tried to cram into our "mummy" sleeping bags, and they've never let me down - I'm sure Wilson and Brandy need no introductions!

Luring with my favourite boy.....

....and my favourite girl

I've already started to think about my racing next year, and so far my main goals are a sub 3 marathon in London and a good race at the TransRockies 6 day Stage Race in August south of the border in Colorado. I have also put my name forward for consideration to be selected for the GB team at the World Trail Running Championships in France at the end of May next year.. I am under no illusions that I will be selected - there are some very good British lady trail runners across the pond, and it will be difficult for the selectors to draw comparisons between my results over here in the mountains of Canada compared to races in the English Lake District or Scottish Highlands - but I at least wanted to give myself half the chance of competing on the international scene one last time, before I become a Canadian Citizen.

There will of course be other races along the way, but at the moment, I'm reluctant to commit to too much. Nobody knows what the future holds and there is a high possibility that there may well be changes in our lives again next year that will affect the races I do. For now, I am purely focused on London and the TransRockies and the good news is that at present I am feeling fitter, stronger and alot more confident in my running than I have done for a long time, and that's thanks to my excellent coach Laura who is helping me immensely. As things stand, I'm pretty sure that next year is going to be another great year and I'm looking forward to the challenges and new adventures it will bring.

So I guess all that remains now is to say Happy New Year everybody, and may you too have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015 :-)

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A Little Bit About Me

Now living in Alberta, Canada, I was born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent in England, and have been a competitive runner for over 40 years. I began my running career as a track and cross country runner when in my teens before turning to marathon running in my 20's, and then ultra running when I reached my 30's. Although starting out primarily as a road runner, I now consider myself a trail runner and mainly compete in trail races in Canada and the U.S. Over the years, I've completed almost 200 marathons and ultramarathons, and have represented Great Britain at ultra distance world championships numerous times in the past, as well as representing Team Canada at Big's Backyard Ultra World Championship in both 2020 and 2022. More recently, I ran my furthest distance to date when I completed my first 200-mile event -The Divide 200 - in the Rockies of Southern Alberta, finishing in 84 hours and 28 minutes. I still have that drive to be a successful runner, and I enjoy being competitive and training for races. Running has been and still is a huge part of my life, but I couldn't do what I do without the support of my husband Andy who has followed me everywhere to crew and support me at the many races over the years. I am also completely obsessed with my wonderful dogs - Wilson, Tillie and April. These pups continue to be my lucky running mascots and have been to prmlalmost every race with me. They are also my training buddies and I've spent many happy trail miles with them, talking race tactics and seeking advice since they joined our family. After many years of being a successful athlete, these days I am just happy to still be able to run and enjoy what I do - race victories and unlikely PR's are definitely a bonus :-)