Tough Girl Podcast

Sophie in her own words:   “I am a GP and mental health trainer practising in West London. My exposure to diverse pockets of humanity has taught me that social struggles, such as loneliness, don’t discriminate and that the resulting emotional distress is real and reaching pandemic levels. My heart lies in challenging perceptions of these problems and how we support those suffering.   I am striving to increase awareness and education around responding to distress within the current UK system through my work with the organisation 4MentalHealth, while seeking out ways to change the system through the undertaking of research into the root causes of distress and alternative approaches to healing globally.   My growing interest in the relationship between mental health and community led to the creation of 'The Patient's Voice Project' in 2016. I'm delighted this year to expand the project and focus in on cultural influences on mental health and healing through a Winston Churchill Fellowship exploring the potential

Shikha is a writer based in Uttarakhand, India. Specialising in stories woven around nature and the outdoors, sustainable living, and those with a cultural insight from the remote mountains of India, Nepal and Bhutan.    Her travel stories appear in a wide variety of publications such as the National Geographic Traveller, Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveller, Lonely Planet, and more.    Her environmental and social interest stories have appeared in newspapers such as The Hindu, The New Indian Express, and on platforms such as Nature InFocus and RoundGlass Sustain.    Born and brought up in the mountains, she is a qualified mountaineer who has participated in expeditions in the Himalayas. Her mountaineering stories have appeared in The Outdoor Journal and online on the Red Bull forum.    Shikha is the recipient of a Commonwealth Writers fellowship for her stories on Himalayan ecology, and has also authored an award-winning children's book on Northeast India's first female Everester, Tine Mena, for a literacy

Eleanor Drinkwater is a bug nut and adventurer. Her love of all things creepy-crawly has led her to carry out research in field sites across the world, from Australia to the Amazon.    She is fascinated by invertebrate behaviour and has been awarded Inspirational Explorer of the Year award by the Scientific Expedition Society for her work looking into the behaviour of the biggest beetle on the planet.    However, she is equally fascinated by the weird and wonderful critters we have in the UK and has recently she finished her PhD which researched how and why woodlice have personalities.   Eleanor is passionate about communicating and sharing her enthusiasm for invertebrates. She is currently working as a lecturer at Writtle University College where she teaches about ecology and conservation. She also really enjoys encouraging little bug enthusiasts through running bug-hunting events with community groups and schools.   Ultimately, she believes that there’s a real need to encourage budding bug lovers (of every

Helen Butters is a Sunday Times Bestselling author, keynote speaker, communications & engagement expert, qualified performance coach with NLP, and a member of the National Council of Psychotherapists.    In 2016 she followed her dream of rowing across both the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean with a team of 3 amazing women and gained a Guinness World Record and an Honorary Doctorate.      A lot of people ask Helen how she coped with the level of endurance rowing, 2 hours on and 2 hours off 24 hours a day.  What got her through, was a positive mindset and understanding how to keep it that way, in times of immense stress    Adventure and business have many similarities.     Helen uses her row across the Atlantic as a backdrop, and adopts a unique, interesting, and amusing approach that sets her apart from many motivational speakers.  Helen is extremely relatable as she’s not a professional athlete: She’s a mum with a busy career who has many barriers that could have stopped her from undertaking a big adven

Michelle Moore is an award-winning leadership coach, author, speaker and educator voted as one of the UK’s 50 Most 'Influential Women in Sport’. Based on a twenty year’ career in senior leadership roles across sport, government and education, her pioneering work and coaching and leadership programmes have transformed the lives of professionals, young people, athletes and the culture of many organisations. Winner of the 2016 UK Precious Award for ‘Outstanding Woman in Sport’, a Football Black List award and an esteemed national Change Maker award. Michelle is a globally recognised executive on leadership, race equity and sport for development. A sought after experienced speaker and moderator hosting events and delivering keynotes for The University of Cambridge, The NBA, and UNICEF UK. She has chaired events at the United Nations and presented to the House of Lords. Michelle makes regular appearances for top tier media outlets including BBC Radio 4, TRT World, Channel 4, BBC World Service Sportshour and be

Jill is an underwater explorer, writer, photographer, speaker, and filmmaker.    A pioneer of technical rebreather diving, she has led expeditions into icebergs in Antarctica, volcanic lava tubes, and submerged caves worldwide.    Jill is the first Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.    Her memoir, INTO THE PLANET, has been lauded by the Wall Street Journal, Oprah Magazine, and the New York Times.    Her children’s book THE AQUANAUT is a Blue Ribbon Selection for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.    Jill is a Fellow of the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame, Underwater Academy of Arts and Sciences, Women Divers Hall of Fame and the Explorers Club, which awarded her with the William Beebe Award for ocean exploration.   New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out.    Support the mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media. Visit www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast and subscrib

Abi is a white, neurodivergent and fat writer, artist, cyclist and student nurse.  She recently featured in Cycling UK’s 100 Women in Cycling 2021 for her working promoting fat lib in cycling. Abigail was nominated for the 100 Women in Cycling by Chloe Bramwell who said:   "Abigail shows that cycling is open to everyone. Not just only women, but LGBT women, too. Her work embracing body positivity has made me change my relationship with my own body. I make healthier choices for myself because I love my body rather than to punish it. I admire her vulnerability and strength in showing how she sees herself. I admire that she holds the cycling community to account by expecting accessibility for everyone. I admire her for showing that cycling is for us all.”   Abi is the co-author of her first book all about cycle touring ‘Gears for Queers’.    She lives on the Fife Coast with her partner Lea and cat Boba. She can normally be found riding her bike, cooking vegan feasts or obsessively playing The Sims!   "I believe

Omie in her own words:   “I’m a keen swimmer and swim teacher, having worked in the leisure industry since 2013. In my teaching role I've worked with a variety of different ages and abilities both in the UK and abroad.   I have been exploring the issue of diversity in aquatics and the leisure industry with my own project titled, ‘If 71% of the world is water, how can we feel at home if we don't know how to swim?’.    I currently work for the Black Swimming Association in community engagement and communication and volunteer in my spare time for Pride in Water, and work as a volunteer swim host for Mental Health Swims in the London region.”   “Swimming has given me so much – employment, friendships and both physical and mental health benefits.”     New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out.    Support the mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media. Visit www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast and sub

Abhejali Bernardova (44, Czech Republic) of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team completed an extreme ultra-triathlon from Dover to Prague, during which she covered a total of 1111 km across the 3 disciplines: 34 km swimming, 895 km cycling, 182 km running. It took her 7 days, 12 hours and 5 minutes.    She started on Monday September 13 2021 at 3am from Dover. In very challenging conditions, with the wind at force 5, she swam the English Channel in 15 hours and 33 minutes. The only other successful crossing on the same day was a 5-person relay team. It was her last chance to swim this year and the swim had already been postponed a few times.    Restrictions did not allow her to stay in France, so she had to take a detour back to Dover and then take a ferry to France. She then cycled from Calais to her hometown of Cheb, near the Czech/German border.    The cycling leg, which took her 4 days, was approximately 900 kilometres through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. She arrived in Cheb on Saturday afterno

Rebecca Lowe is a freelance journalist from London who specialises in human rights and the Middle East.    In 2015-16, she cycled 11,000km solo from London to Tehran.    Her first book, THE SLOW ROAD TO TEHRAN, documenting her year-long journey, paints a living portrait of the Middle East through its people, politics and historic relationship with the West, and challenges much of the perceived wisdom about this region of the world. It was published in March 2022 by September Books in the UK and MVG in Germany.   During her career, Rebecca has written for the Guardian, BBC, Independent, Huffington Post, Economist, Sunday Times Magazine, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Spectator and IranWire, as well as numerous travel, music and sports magazines.    From 2010-15, she was the lead reporter at the International Bar Association, where she focused on human rights and the rule of law, and in 2018 she contributed to the adventure travel anthology THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS: TRAVEL STORIES THAT MAKE YOUR HEART GROW, pub

Kumbi in her own words:   “I’m Kumbi, a fun loving adventurous woman. I was born and raised in Zimbabwe and came over to England to study nursing when I was 18.   I love all things outdoors, from climbing, hiking, camping, cycling.   I am a senior nurse in the NHS, and I have been very thankful that I have the ability to go outdoors and destress.    It is one of the places that I am able to practice Mindfulness, which has kept me grounded through some of the most challenging times that I have experienced during this pandemic.   I hope to share my love and inspire others to explore and be adventurous!”   New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out.    The tough girl podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. To find out more about supporting your favourite podcast and becoming a patron please check out www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast.    Show Notes Who is Kum

Nicola Hardy worked in IT in South Yorkshire for a decade before diving into freelance life as an adventurer and outdoor writer in 2019. She began by climbing all 282 of Scotland's Munros and - after her plans to hike 3000km in New Zealand were scuppered by Covid - she continued adventuring closer to home.    In 2020 she walked 330km from her birthplace in Sheffield to her new home in Cockermouth, Cumbria, journeying on foot across three national parks; and in 2021 she climbed all 214 Wainwrights in the Lake District over seven long weekends, a quirky book-by-book peak-bagging adventure.   Nic in her own words:   “I'm basically half IT organised spreadsheet nerd and half outdoor adventure loving hiker. I've taken a series of steps over the last 5 years to make my life as outdoorsy and adventurous as possible. I quit my job and sold my house in April 2019 and had 6 months of Scottish hill walking adventure, since then I've dabbled in route writing, gear reviewing, festival speaking, outdoor magazine/website wr

Tasha, 43, from London is the founder of Black Girls Do Run UK.    In 2019, Tasha set up the online community to inspire black women to run for their health, fitness and mental wellbeing.     Tasha talking about running:   “I am a runner and running is definitely part of my identity and how I am often identified by others. For me, being a runner is to simply be someone who runs, enjoys running and becomes miserable if they cannot run – because it is such a big and important part of your life and who you are. It is not about racing, speed, distance, fitness levels or running daily, it is a feeling where life isn’t quite right without running.”   Listen to Tasha on the Tough Girl Podcast as she shares more about her life, her passion for running, how she got into running, what she loves about it as well as giving you lots of top tips to help you with your running journey.    New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out.

Miriam in her own words:   “I am also an ordinary ultra runner. I have finished eight 50 mile ultras, three 100 mile ultras, six 24-hour, 1 48-hour ultra, and one 60 hour ultra. I also ran several virtual ultras and marathons during the Covid-19 pandemic.   I began running ultras after watching Leslie Stahl interview elite world-class ulta runners Dean Karnazes and Pam Reed on 60 Minutes in 2004.    I have been running ultras since 2005. Prior to running ultras, I completed nine marathons, eight half-marathons, one 10 miler, and five 5Ks. I have been running competitively since 1989.   I am a published author, freelance writer, interviewer, and book reviewer. You can read my publications in the Writing Life tab. In my blog you'll find interviews with ultrarunners, such as Jacob Moss, Kevin Hoegler, Dean Karnazes, Camille Herron, Bart Yasso, Charlie Engle, Pamela Chapman Markle, Catra Corbett, Gene Dykes, and Peter Morgan.I  write book reviews, and articles about gardening, the national parks, spirituality, ca

In 2019 Sarah was crowned World Cup champion by the World Mountain Running Association.    After a series of seven races throughout the season, including a win in Wales, Sarah secured victory with a second place in Slovenia, the final race in the series.   Sarah is a Cumbrian-based athlete, a brand ambassador for Inov-8 – who sponsor the Lakeland Trails series – an Irish international mountain runner (representing her country no less than 25 times!), a qualified ecologist and a professional running coach.    She lives with her partner – and fellow Inov-8 brand ambassador – Paul Tierney and their two border collies, Quilla and Lupo, in a shepherd’s hut in Windermere.   “You can’t have a good race every time, but you can gain something from each and every run.  If you have a bad race, find one or two positives to take away from it, even if it’s just something you now know you’d do differently, and then start looking ahead to the next one.”   Info/Stats:   UK Athletics-Certified Trail & Fell Running Coach P

Lois @lois_lo_lo - lives in Luton, is a GP, Teaching lecturer in Medical Education and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion lead. She is passionate about running and staying active and sharing her enthusiasm for running with others.    She has always been interested in sports, playing netball and basketball competitively for many years. Running was always a reserve activity for her, something to do between seasons, when she felt guilty about her inactivity. This all changed after her second son, and a move to Luton. Not having the time to play netball, and balancing work with her young family, Lois initially began home HIIT workouts and circuit training, but frequent interruptions for nappy changes and feeds left her feeling unsatisfied.    She decided to go for a run one afternoon and was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable and uninterrupted this session (or type) of exercise could be. She immediately swapped her home workouts for outdoor runs. These quickly increased infrequency and within a few months Lois

After a few months of feeling unwell, Sara’s life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour.   Following a haemorrhage and major brain surgery that left her unable to walk, with impaired vision and balance, as well as permanent profound hearing loss, she has been focused on getting back everything the tumour took away from her, and much more.   Now she’s sharing the story of how she overcame adversity to get from sickbed to summits.   During this episode Sara shares more about how she got back into running, going after her first ultra and how she approaches new and difficult challenges.   Sara in her own words about her next challenge:   “In September 2022, to show others that despite life throwing curveballs our way we can still achieve, I aim to run from Land's End to John 'Groats. I will be covering a distance of approximately 855 miles over 20 days.   I'll be leaving from Land's End on the morning of Monday 5th September, and with the help of some friends l'll be running betwe

Janelle in her own words:   “Trail runner born and raised in the front range of Colorado. Started running as a kid with my dad then picked it back up in high school and went to Colorado State University on track and cross country scholarship.  Started racing on trails in 2020 and have had a couple wins at broken arrow sky race and the golden trail national series race in the Azores.   Signed on with Inov-8 as an ambassador at the beginning of 2022”   New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out.    The Tough Girl Podcast is being sponsored throughout March by Inov-8 supporting the #MarchDailyMile Challenge.   Use TOUGHGIRL20 to get your 20% discount on all trainers and running gear —>> www.inov-8.com   Show Notes Who is Janelle Being nomadic and moving between places Growing up in Colorado Playing a lot of soccer growing up  Getting into running with her dad Running well in track and getting a scholars

Mariam Kilpatrick is a Women's Health Physiotherapist and ultra-runner based in Glasgow, Scotland. She is an outdoor enthusiast and can usually be found up a hill in the Highlands of Scotland or travelling and exploring new places with her young family in their camper van.    It may come as a surprise to a lot of people, but Mariam only took up trail running after the birth of her daughter in 2017 when her husband decided to surprise her by entering her into an "ultra" six months after giving birth. As it happened, it turned out it was as part of a team relay with 3 other people and she was assigned to run 10 miles out of the total 50-mile race.    Nevertheless, Mariam stepped up to the challenge and worked hard to achieve her postpartum goal of running 10 hilly miles in the Ochils - her first experience running on the trails in Scotland. Since then, she has been bitten by the bug and to date has run several trail marathons, mountain and sky-running races and ultramarathons with her most recent achievement in

Sophie in her own words:   “I am a solicitor and mum of one, currently pregnant with my second. I’m a runner, outdoor swimmer, paddle boarder and host of the What Next Mum Podcast.  I have been running for 12 years and have run plenty of half and full marathons.  When I had my son I had a real fear that I would lose my identity as a runner but that hasn’t been the case.    Since having him I cycled the 100 mile ride London 4 months post birth and ran a one day 100km/62 mile race.   Since then I have continued to do my own self made running adventures, including running the Jurassic Coast over 3 days, the West Mendip Way and running along the Wye Valley.  I started the What Next Mum Podcasts, so I could talk to like minded women and share their stories to inspire other mums to ditch the mum guilt and get out there.  I am also a keen outdoor swimmer, this is my fifth winter. I’m a rubbish swimmer but love being in the water and will be swimming to the Isle of Wight in September."     New episodes of the Tou