Rachel Ong
Brathay 10in10 Athlete
Hi! I’m Rachel and I live in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, with my husband Chris, daughter Elle and border terrier Ramsay.
I can’t necessarily pinpoint my motivations for doing the 10 in 10 – most people think it’s completely mad when I tell them – but taking part in the Windermere marathon in previous years and watching the 10 in 10 runners has been extremely inspiring.
The Lake District is also a very special place to me, being where I grew up and started my running “journey”. Growing up watching my Grandad complete some mega challenges, like the Bob Graham Round, has probably also had something to do with signing up!
It was when I moved to London over 10 years ago that I really got into road running (well, there wasn’t exactly many fells to run round). I loved finding new routes and found such a great way to explore the city. I remember being so happy when I found the route to run 10 miles home from work in London Bridge right through to west London – my route passed Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park the Royal Albert Hall and Harrods, and I just loved it. It was living down south when I started to take part in the many organised half marathons on the weekends, and I eventually took the plunge and moved on to marathons and even dabbled in a 55km trail race back in 2017. With the COVID-19 pandemic and then having my daughter, it’s been a quietish few years on the running side and so it really felt like the right time to sign up for a challenge – enter the 2024 10 in 10.
As well as being a huge personal challenge for me, I’m honoured to be raising funds for the Brathay Trust. The charity does some incredible work within communities across the North and in particular with children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. It’s heartwarming to read about the experiences the Brathay Trust provides, and it feels amazing to be contributing to such important work.
Juggling work, a toddler and marathon(s) training over the next 9 months is going to be tough, but I am sure it will all be worth when I (hopefully) cross the finish line on day 10 – exhausted, but with 10 marathons and a load of funds raised for Brathay Trust under my belt!
Experience
- 2023: Langdale Marathon
- 2019: Windermere Marathon
- 2018: Windermere Marathon, Wimbledon Marathon
- 2017: Windermere Marathon, Lakeland Trails 55km