womensrunninguk.co.uk MARCH 2017 61MILES WITH SMILES“I adore running in costume and to raise money for my local hospice,” says Carol Bull, 47, from
Leeds. “I have run as various things including a pumpkin, ladybird, dragon, teddy bear and Tinker
Bell. I could only run up to 10K in the bear and dragon costumes but, with Tinker Bell, I can run
all distances, including marathons. She’s by far my favourite costume and I love the excited
reaction she gets from spectators and my fellow runners. There are so many shoutouts for
Tinker Bell during races that I can’t help running along with a huge grin on my face, high-fiving
hundreds of children, which makes all the difference in the world when various body parts start
hurting. When exhaustion has forced me to walk during races, I’ve been amazed at how, as
soon as I’ve heard someone shout, ‘Go Tinker Bell!’ I’ve found renewed energy that has got me
running again... all the way to that finish line!”“ nker Be helps me fget the pain
when my body starts hurting”
“I was performing well until the 60-mile
point of the White Rose Ultra 100 Mile
Race,” says Georgina Townsend, 27,
from London. “Then, having reached
a checkpoint at 2am, I realised I was
suffering from night blindness, which
meant that my vision was blurred and
I was unable to see more than a few
metres ahead. My legs were feeling fine
so I decided to carry on, but between 4am
and 8am, I managed to fall into a deep
smelly bog, lose my race number and
trip over too many times to count. It was
the longest night of my life but I laughed
my way through each obstacle and
felt incredibly proud when I completed
this self-supported event in 28hrs and
48mins. My main goal changed from
getting a sub 24-hour finish to just getting
the job done and not being defeated.
Laughing about the fact that I was
freezing cold, covered in stinky mud and
struggling to see helped me get through
the period when I wanted to quit. Having
a sense of humour helped to ease the
pain and the fear of failure – I knew I could
complete the race as long as I kept up my
spirits – and I did!”“Humour got me
through a 100-
miler despite faing
into a smey bog”
© ADAM BULL