the history

I am Rachael, in the middle of the picture. I’m 36, I am rather too fond of chocolate and wine and I have four children, a girl and three boys. I used to run when I was doing my finals at university, but that was about two lifetimes ago. This spring my sister Zoe (that’s her on the left) and I had the lunatic idea of running the London Marathon in memory of our lovely dad (you can see him there in the photo, under a pile of children) who died in 2006 from a heart attack.  We’re running for Heart Research. 700 people suffer a heart attack every day, and as well as funding pioneering research, Heart Research work with communities to encourage a healthier lifestyle, reducing their risk of heart problems. After Dad died, I discovered my cholesterol levels were higher than they should be, and so running is a perfect way of working on getting those levels down whilst still maintaining my chocolate obsession.

This marathon lark is catching – also coming along for the ride are Mr NF, my husband and irritatingly fit person who just took up running again and is already off doing 6 miles without thinking about it. Then there’s Jessica, our marathon running guru/goddess, who completed her first marathon the year before last and who is as far removed from a chocoholic couch potato as it’s possible to be.

And finally, my partner in crime who put the running idea in my head in the first place, the lovely Sarah. Due to our opposite body clocks, we’ll probably only run together for the first time on Marathon day. She’s a night owl, who likes to run in the dark. I’m out at 5am. Maybe one day when our training runs get longer we’ll meet halfway at about 2 in the morning.