In 2024, ten years after her dad died, Rachel decided to take on a huge challenge to fundraise for Princess Alice Hospice, the place that continues to hold a special place in her heart. To show her ongoing gratitude for her dad’s care, she vowed to run 10 marathons in 10 months, raising £10,000, 10 years on. It proved to be an epic journey, full of highs and lows throughout the year.  

“Even ten years on, I remember so vividly their care and attention to detail. The Hospice felt like a sanctuary from the chaos. Dad wanted to die at home, and with that came challenges, but the Hospice team made it happen. As a result of their support, our family have some special and positive memories of a very challenging time. I wanted to give back to Princess Alice Hospice by fundraising, to help ensure that others who need similar support can benefit from their services. I chose marathon running because I ran my first marathon for the Hospice in 2016 in London – so it felt fitting to ramp it up by doing 10 for the 10-year anniversary! 

‘’The highlight was definitely the London Marathon! Way back in April, I started the 10 marathons with this one and ran it with one of my best friends. Starting with such an experience was hard to beat over the following 9 marathons. Solway Coast marathon was a small event, quiet and peaceful, I saw more cows and sheep than I did people and the scenery was beautiful, I’d highly recommend!  

‘’The JustGiving email updates of donations coming through were so motivating when things got tough, knowing that the money was getting topped up. The cake sales were amazing! These were additional fundraisers, where colleagues were brilliant at helping me out; they baked cakes, donated gifts for tombolas – one of the consultants even roped in her mum to help me with selling! The support has been overwhelming.’’ 

Rachel was ecstatic when she hit the £10,000 fundraising mark: ‘’This seemed an unreachable target at the start, reaching it felt so exciting and like all the hard work had paid off. I completed the final two marathons on back-to-back days. Whilst this was very, very tough mentally and physically, I had a huge turnout of friends and family on the course with all kinds of accessories, including bubble guns, posters, music and banners. Crossing the final marathon finish line, I felt very emotional! I’m very lucky to have had so much support from friends, family, strangers and anonymous donors!’’ 

Along the way, Rachel encountered many hard times, too. 

‘’There were definite low points, but perhaps not as many as expected. At the Edinburgh Marathon in April, I naively had high hopes of setting a PB (3:21hrs) but the fatigue of 2 marathons in the previous 4 weeks hit me hard10km in. Running the remaining 32kms in the pouring, sideways rain was tough.

‘’Six months later in October, I had a similar experience at Amsterdam Marathon, where I had still not learnt my lesson to take it easy at the start!  

‘’Otherwise, there were no real low points, but it did take quite a toll on my social life for the whole year. Trying to fit in the marathons around working weekends, fitting in training runs and having some recovery time was quite the balancing act. I have been exhausted for 10 months!  

After all the hard work, Rachel has compiled some fantastic highlights of an exhausting but exhilarating year: 

21st April, London Marathon, completed in 3:52hrs: ‘’I paced my best friend to a huge PB, it was an absolute belter of a day! 10/10. Will be hard to beat!’’ 

5th May, Newcastle-Gateshead Marathon, completed in 3:31hrs: ‘’I used it as a bit of a training exercise, ran it in a series of intervals to break it down. Legs felt surprisingly OK given only a short interval.’’  

26th May, Edinburgh Marathon Festival, completed in 3:30hrs: ‘’A TOTAL WASHOUT. Heavy rain all day. Fatigue set in hard at 10k, it’s a miracle I finished it, far from the PB dream.’’  

30th June, Solway Coast Marathon, completed in 3:31hrs: Beautiful scenic and flat course. Saw more cows than I did people! Took it quite chilled, headphones in and got it done. Mind and body handled this far better than the Edinburgh run!  

6th July, Edinburgh Sunset Running Festival Marathon, completed in 3:49hrs: 5pm start time, 4 seasons in a day, 3rd woman overall, 2nd marathon in a week. This was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Legs were screaming.  

3rd August, Strava Run (my own route), completed in 3:44hrs: I decided to do one run of my own; there was no official event I could squeeze in around… life! This was no frills, no crowd, no aid stations. Just me, my trainers and a whole load of grit and determination to keep going. Lovely route around the River Tyne.  

15th September, Richmond Run Festival, London, completed in 3:35hrs: A gorgeous, temperate weather day for running and a familiar river trail – sat back and enjoyed it. Several friend and family appearances along the way with a post-run pub get together (just the lime and sodas for me, though!) – all a motivational boost. Finishing this one, it really felt like I was on the home run… (excuse the pun…).  

20th October, Amsterdam Marathon, completed in 3:44hrs: 26.2 miles wiped the floor with me here… fatigue like never before, both mentally and physically, set in hard very early on. I can’t comment much on the scenery because I was so focused on just putting one foot in front of the other! Completing a marathon never felt so tough. But crossing a finish line never felt so good.  

15th November, Staines, Saturn Running 2 in 2 days, completed in 3:51hrs. 

16th November, Staines, Saturn Running 2 in 2 days, completed in 3:52hrs. 

Princess Alice Hospice would like to thank Rachel for her commitment to such an amazing challenge, she’s done herself, and the Hospice, proud. Community Partnerships and Events Lead, Claire Woodward said, “We are incredibly grateful for the continued support from Rachel’s family over the years, through both fundraising and volunteering.  Their dedication has always been a source of inspiration, and Rachel’s recent 10-marathon challenge has truly moved us. Raising an astounding £13,000 in memory of her father, Leslie, is an extraordinary accomplishment. Rachel should be so proud of the impact she has made, and we are honoured to have had her as such a powerful advocate supporting us.”