Rebecca's story starts in the North East of England, where she grew up on a smallholding in an area with little ethnic diversity. Influenced by her mom's passion for animals, she pursued a dream of becoming a vet and moved to Liverpool for University.

As a young mom, she discovered tennis and joined a fitness group before her journey led her to running.

Residing at the foot of the Pennines in West Yorkshire with her husband and two children. Rebecca turned to running in 2021 as a way to escape life's demands of a busy family life and the stress of running a veterinary practice during Covid. In 2022, she set her first trail race goal, a 16k trail race in the Lakes.

Rebecca's story also includes her involvement with Black Trail Runners, where she found community and purpose. She shares her experiences, from Endure 24 to the 3 Dales Marathon in North Yorkshire.

Rebecca shares more about why she wants to participate in challenging races, how she build inner strength, and expands her comfort zone. She candidly discusses her experiences, of training for and running in the mountainous Adidas TERREX Infinite trails race in Austria. Plus how she completed her longest run to date, 77k on the Peak Divide running from Sheffield to Manchester through the Peak District.

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Show notes

Who is Rebecca
Her early years in the North East of England
Growing up on a small holding
Living in the least ethnically diverse place in the whole of the UK
Being influenced by her dad who was super sporty
Her mum's passion for animals and how it influenced Rebecca into wanting to become a vet
Having one cat
Studying to become a vet at Liverpool University
Being use to working hard and dealing with pressure and stress
Gaining work experience at every opportunity
Not being able to do sport while at university
Moving to a more diverse city
Growing up in white spaces
Not being a runner
Having her first child in 2014 and feeling a bit lost
Getting into tennis and starting to play on a regular basis
Having her 2nd child in 2018 and joining a mums fitness group
The impact of covid while working as a vet
Getting into running in 2021
Living in West Yorkshire at the foot of the Pennines
Running to have time to herself and to get away from everything
Deciding to set a running goal in 2022 and entering her first trail race (16k trail race in the lakes)
Her journey with Black Trails Runners, where it all started
Watching Martin 'MJ' Johnson in the film - 'Run to the Source' made with Patagonia
Feeling uncomfortable, weird and isolated
The sense of satisfaction after completing her first race
Finding her community and what she wanted to do
Getting more involved in BTR and what that looked like
Connecting with an online community via social media
Endure 24 with BTR
Signing up for the 3 Dales Marathon, North Yorkshire
Not eating or drinking enough and how it impacted her race
Building inner strength and dealing with the hard moments while out on the race
Entering the growth zone and expanding your comfort zone
Signing up for 2 more races
Running The Haworth Hobble in winter
Running the Peak Divide (a 2 day ultra - running from Manchester to Sheffield)
Singing up to do Infinite Trails
Fitting in training around her life and what it looks like
Liking routine and liking to be busy
Why it's about the journey
Deciding to apply to run in her first mountain race and becoming part of the first all female, all black running team
Needing to be prepared
Working with a running coach - Sam from Kings of the Wild Frontier
Having the opportunity to train in Chamonix and Snowdonia and spending time as a team
Running the "Short Leg" as part of the relay - 21k, 1900m of climbing!
Running the 10k technical descent and the concentration needed to get to the finish
Recovery after the race and struggling to walk afterwards
Having a 77k ultra marathon (Peak Divide) the week after!
Dealing with pain and nausea and not being in a good place
Not knowing how she would be able to run the final 40k
Trying to turn it around mentally
Needing to stop thinking about the end and focusing on the next step
Taking things step by step and slowly starting to feel better
Finishing the race after a difficult and challenging internal battle!
Filming a short film for Kendal Mountain Festival
Being on the cover of German Trail Magazine
Sharing her journey on Instagram
Final words of advice to encourage and motivate you
This about the journey and don't always think about the end goal
"You can achieve, you just have to take the first steps"

Social Media

Instagram: @rebecca_runs_wild

Black Trail Runners - A community and campaigning charity seeking to increase inclusion, participation and representation of Black people in trail running

Website: www.blacktrailrunners.run

Instagram: @blacktrailrunners

Facebook: @blacktrailrunners

Ep 158: Elf on the Shelf Nightmare, Mythical Creature TAs & Gross Classroom Stories!