Say hello to Rachel Finch AKA @slimmingworldsplash. Rachel is running the MBNA Chester Marathon on 6th October & will be sharing her journey through the last 6 weeks of training.

Rachel's had quite a journey to get where she is today, having lost an incredible 7 stones in weight when she ran her first marathon. It didn’t quite go to plan but since then, running has become very important to her. Like most of us, Rachel leads a busy life balancing studying, family life & exercise. However, she felt inspired to tackle another marathon & chose the fantastic Chester Marathon.

We will be sharing Rachel’s blogs on our social media channels over the coming weeks. Make sure to follow Rachel on Instagram, @slimmingworldsplash https://www.instagram.com/slimmingworldsplash/?hl=en Her posts really help inspire people to reach their goals & achieve things they never thought were possible.

Thanks for joining us Rachel. We look forward to sharing your journey.

“I started running in 2017, originally to aid my weight loss and fitness. I’d seen my sister run a race and wanted to give it a try, so I signed up and ran the Liverpool Spring 10k in May 2017. Then the running buzz well and truly had me hooked! I ran my first half marathon later that same year and applied to run the London Marathon as part of the Slimming World Team (where I had lost 7 stone). Amazingly, I was selected for the team and ran my first marathon in London 2018. Unfortunately, I got an injury during training just 5 weeks before the big day and was advised to pull out but due to the large amounts of money I’d raised (over £2000), I was reluctant to. I decided to run anyway despite not being 100% but with the added fact that it was the hottest London Marathon on record, I didn’t have the best run and vowed never to run a marathon again!

In September 2018 I started a Midwifery degree at The University of Manchester. An unforgiving degree with an extreme workload, confirmed to me that running would need to take a back seat. However, 2 months in, with little but still some running, I realise I was really missing it and upped my training load once more. In April 2019 I went down to London to watch the marathon and I just knew then, that I needed to have another go! With my course being so demanding, it was important that I chose a marathon that wouldn’t clash with exams and would allow me to train around my workload. Chester Marathon was timed perfectly and is a local marathon for me. Several members of my running club, Warrington Running Club, have run Chester Marathon before and all had great things to say about the event. That was all I needed to know! Before I knew it, I was signed up and excited to start training.  

I’ve tackled my training differently this time to avoid injury! I approached a Run Leader from my club for some guidance and she provided me with a brilliant training plan. The plan is going really well so far and I feel great.

I can’t wait to run the MBNA Chester Marathon on 6th October!”

Week 14 - https://www.activeleisureevents.co.uk/news-items/taper-traumas

Week 13 - https://www.activeleisureevents.co.uk/news-items/disappointment-tears-good-friends-and-a-long-wet-22-miles-what-a-week

Week 12 - https://www.activeleisureevents.co.uk/news-items/4-weeks-to-goless-mileage-still-a-lot-of-juggling

Week 11 - https://www.activeleisureevents.co.uk/news-items/week-11-of-training-5-weeks-to-go-until-the-mbna-chester-marathon