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About Me
Hi, I’m Emmelia.
Each year I set myself a challenge to embark on. I’ve never been one for sitting around and doing nothing, but at the same time, I’ve never really been into competing in sports.
At school, like everyone else, I was pushed into all the teams, hockey, tennis, rounders, netball. I was (at best) average at all of them and hated every Saturday match. Sport, to me, became associated with being cold, being shouted at, and having to act aggressive, none of which inspired me to spend more time exercising.
When I got to university, my interest in sport didn’t exactly improve, aside from the occasional gym session to keep excessive student eating in check. Even then, it was less about fitness and more about sitting around on balance boards with friends than actually working out…
WHERE IT BEGAN...
After leaving university, it was clear I’d put on a fair bit of weight.
Once I graduated, I worked at a local racing stable and ended up losing a couple of stone in the process, riding racehorses is pretty intense exercise! I felt better and loved the energy that came with being fitter. Around this time, I started looking for local gyms to channel my new energy. With very little money left after uni, I chose a small weightlifting gym near home: Bob Prowse. The trainers, Paul and Ian, really took me under their wing and introduced me to proper weight training and structured workouts, not the floating around or endless treadmill sessions I was used to.
After a year at Bobs, I understood so much more about exercise and was improving in leaps and bounds. Off the back of that, I signed up for two fun runs in 2014. The first was a 5k for Cancer Research around the local park. The pumping music, the supporters, and crossing the finish line gave me such a buzz. A few weeks later, I finished a colour run with some uni friends. Once again, the atmosphere was incredible, leaving me wanting more.
A couple of months later, Paul mentioned that the gym took part in a Spartan obstacle course race every year and suggested I give it a go. Completely uncharted territory, but it sounded fun.
Turning up on race day, it was immediately clear this was a different breed of run altogether. There were more people, louder music, and much bigger obstacles. I had instant butterflies of excitement. As we lined up at the 5k start line, everyone from Bob Prowse was laughing and joking, the energy was unreal. The countdown started… and we were off.
Now, I had never enjoyed running up to that point in my life, but the obstacles broke it up, the mud made it fun, and the pure elation of everyone around me made it the most enjoyable hour of exercise I’d ever done at that point.
By the finish line I was completely shattered, but I felt like I’d truly earned my medal. Endorphins were charging through my body and I was on top of the world. I’d only managed a handful of the easier obstacles, but I could already see how much room there was to improve. I started to dream about climbing ropes and conquering monkey bars. I well and truly had the OCR bug, and I loved the friends I had made at the gym.
The Bug Continued
After my first Spartan run, I may have gone a little nuts. I signed up for a 15k and 30k Spartan the following month with a friend. I loved both races as much as the first. They were more challenging in terms of obstacles, distance and the cold was beginning to play a part, making kit checks essential. After completing these races the adrenaline rush was so much more because they had been that much more difficult. I was loving that I had to really think and plan these races or I would not finish.
After a few runs with my friends from school, they began to lose interest in running through mud in the cold and climbing over obstacles in the pouring rain.
It was here that a friend (Karen Hillman) and I started talking about competing in races properly and pushing ourselves. We set ourselves the challenge of being placed in a few races and qualifying for the UK and World championships. A long shot at the time but something to work towards!
Getting
Serious
After agreeing the same aspirations, Karen and I went to training days to improve our obstacle course techniques and improve our running. I signed up for 56 races to train in race conditions. We both qualified for the world championships and UK championships in a few races.
However, I was lucky enough to qualify for the elite wave after coming 4th in a brutal race in Dubai Spartan Super. It would appear I was getting quite good at these OCRs! However, my placement was largely due to everyone else dying of heat exhaustion in the desert and me being stubborn enough to complete, rather than my OCR talent!
After Dubai, I was on a high regardless of how I had qualifed and had a huge confidence boost. I trained harder and became slightly better. I got cocky.
Biting off more than I could chew I entered a 70mile Ultramarathon with a few friends and did not finish. This was a huge disappointment but also the reality check I needed. You can not blag all races, especially not harder ones. I vowed to go back and complete this race in 2017. it was here I really started planning and prepping every event. Looking at finishing a challenge more holistically.
Eventually, the OCRWCs arrived Karen and I felt confident. She competed in her age group and I competed in the elite female wave. Unfortunately, Karen became injured and I became scared on an obstacle I had never seen before, so no podiums for us! However, it was a massive learning curve and what an experience! The thrill of racing next to the best athletes in the world is something that I will never forget.
More Than A Bug
The thrill of the World Championships and the ambition to push harder made me realise that I had achieved some amazing things in 2016 and wanted to go out and do more. The larger the event, the more adrenaline. I wanted to try something harder than OCR, something that would push me even further. So I signed up for my first marathon (The Great Wall of China) and the ultra-marathon I had dropped out of in 2016. These became my two resolutions and goals for 2017.
China was hard, very hard. The Wall ultra marathon was also difficult, but both were conquered leaving me looking for something harder in 2018. Something completely different. From there I have been working through my spoting bucketlist, pushing harder and obliterating any sort of comfort zone. No longer is this a bug, it is a lifestyle, actively seeking new thrills and challenges each year.
In 2025 I decided I wanted to help like minded women succeed with their bucketlist sporting ventures. Women, who like me, are short of time and unsure where to start. From here "The Ventures Training" was born. II now help professional, time short women conquer their bucketlist ventures by offering a one- stop-shop for all their preperations. From physcial and mental training to prehab work, kit checks and ensuring they are looked after post event. No area is left untrained and unprepared.