Toni Phoenix, 30 and head of practice at Rethink Recruitment in Manchester, has successfully completed her 100-mile race across the Himalayas – all in aid of four local causes.
Toni, with the support of her employer, took paid leave for nine days to undertake the challenge, which saw her race at varying altitudes over five days.
Toni and her partner Elliott (30 and a colleague at Rethink’s Bristol) were two of only 12 UK participants in a group of just 40. The impressive team were predominantly sponsored professional athletes and Ironmen – so it was intimidating and not to be taken lightly!
Toni said of her time: “What an experience! I’m still running on adrenalin now! But our challenge didn’t start off on the best foot as Elliott was suffering from a stomach bug, so we had to fly out a day late. This meant our preparation was tough and I was also worrying about his state of health.
“Day 2 and things immediately changed for the better as we woke to a 5am sunrise over Everest – truly breath-taking. We were the youngest in the group – except for an 18 year old Canadian – and the oldest was an inspirational man in his 70’s who had done the challenge for every year of the 25 years the event has been taking place, and last year he even climbed Everest after the marathon!
“I can’t lie and say the challenge was easy – far from! We ran the whole marathon at 13000 ft above sea level, so we had a lot of altitude sickness to combat, and I suffered from insomnia the night before day 3 of the challenge – so it was hard going both mentally and physically.
“It was an honour to take part in the 25th year of the marathon taking place, and we found out that the entry fees are donated to the local villages who really got involved – they were all waiting for us at the finish line which was very emotional.
“I think our highlight was on day 5 where we finished third – pipped only by a pro Australian athlete and a 42 x Ironman Man winner – that was such a great feeling, as was realising that we’d managed to raise £5k in our efforts!
Elliott is donating his £1k to the Friends of Bristol Haematology and Oncology centre, and I’m donating the remaining monies to the Booth Centre homeless charity in Manchester, the Diane Modahl Sports Foundation, the Who Cares Trust and Trust House Lancashire in Preston – part of the Survivors Trust.
“We also need to say a huge thank you to our employer ReThink, as we’re really fortunate in that our COO actively encourages us to take part in charitable endeavours, so being given the time off from work, fully paid, to complete the race is just wonderful. We were also given flexibility prior to the challenge to get ourselves physically and mentally prepared – which was imperative for us to complete the marathon.
“I’m now training for a charity boxing fight in February to raise even more money for worthy causes. The team at ReThink are already behind my training which just spurs me on to win! In 2016 our COO is launching the ‘Giving Back’ project – which means the company gives at least 100 working days, fully paid, for all its employees to take on charitable endeavours in work time. I love my job and this just cements it for me that we’re supported so wholeheartedly.”
Anyone wishing to sponsor Toni should visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AntoniaPhoenix1
