Pilates with Lesley Lewis

https://gkcct.enthuse.com/pf/lesley-lewis-lakeland100
Hardmoors Farndale 2026- the final page of my Lakeland 100 (The Montane Lakeland 50 & 100) story (& I’ll try to stop going on about it then I promise😭)
In 2024 I’d already got Lakeland 100 in my sights as THE 100 miler in the UK that I dreamt of getting a place on & I was in absolute awe, when I turned up at Hardmoors Farndale ( a 28 mile trail race on my home turf in the North East) of all the LL100 finisher T Shirts on display & even more so of the few who were,astonishingly to me,even running in it, just 2 weeks out from one of the toughest 100 mile races out there!!
I felt like pinching myself throughout this Sunday that I was actually living my dream- normally I’m wearing my T Shirt for races, but on this occasion I was going to be absolutely 💯 milking my chance to get that LL100 Finisher T Shirt on- also a great excuse to milk the sympathy if I wasn’t on my best form 😉
It was bliss to be actually out on runnable trails ( as opposed to rocks & more rocks & yet still more bloody rocks like it felt in the Lake District!! 😭) The weather was glorious, the North Yorks Moors so beautiful & as always with Hardmoors-the company was just the best!!!❤️ 5/14 in my age group; 18/40 women & 48/99 finishers
Icing on the cake was finishing 8 minutes faster than 2 years ago so very relieved that it doesn’t look like advancing age is catching up with me just yet lol, especially considering that in theory I’m still in recovery from 105 miles & 21 000 ish feet of elevation!!
Grateful as ever to my 26 years odd of Pilates teaching & practice that I’m certain contribute significantly to my ability to do this stuff I love, injury free & not too shoddily💪🤗

My Summer Pilates block starts tomorrow!!! ❤️
I’m a 55yr old Mummy of 7 who runs a bit😉( no mean feat in itself after all those kids either!!) & have been passionately teaching this incredible life skill for 27years now- it’s way more than just an exercise regime!!!
You deserve to feel the best you can about yourself mentally & physically. PM to book now🤗

Just had a play with Chat GPT for the first time!! Not too bad eh?! The kids have been telling me for ages it would make my life easier- feeling slightly less of a dinosaur this evening now yay 🤣

https://gkcct.enthuse.com/pf/lesley-lewis-lakeland100?
**Warning - pretty long running post alert😭**
4 days out, I feel pleasantly surprised to be pretty much back to normal physically. Even my Garmin judged me to decently recovered today which meant a tentative 5k trot out to check everything’s in working order( it is😅) so no more loafing around, eating ALL the food, but God it’s been fun times!!!🥳
Still trying & failing to find the words to do justice to the weekend’s events but I ll give it a go…
I got the train up to Penrith on Thursday afternoon & was collected by my oldest friend Helen, who has also been the most incredible support crew on other daft things I ve entered, bless her. Her family have a caravan about 40 minutes drive from Coniston & they were along too for the weekend. I just can’t begin to thank them for looking after me so well- I didn’t have to lift a finger( well , apart from running 105 miles 🤷‍♀️) & was sooooo well fed by top chef Stepdad Andy. Helen & her Mum Marion, kept popping up wherever they were allowed on the course to cheer me on& Helen was even there in the early hours of Sunday morning in pouring rain at Ambleside.Definitely my lowest point when I was so sleep deprived on night 2 & suffering massive anger management issues at all the horrendous downhill rocky terrain that was slowing me up. I m used to being strong on uphills & Lakeland 100 was no different but I don’t think I ve ever done a race with so many consistently awful downs. I fell over numerous times & still have a really sore wrist. It was a humbling experience too beginning to become anxious about making cut offs- I m used to being top end of the field for my age & top half generally. I had no expectation of any podium places believe me on this one- to even qualify to stand on the start line is a massive privilege & all I ever dreamt of was that finish within the 40 hours. Almost half of women entrants & 36% of all starters didn’t finish this year.
Race Day in Coniston before the 6pm start was amazing. Such an exciting atmosphere to soak up & I felt like a film star running up the mile or so from the start with the streets lined with people clapping & cheering. Around here I caught up with fellow Hardmoors runner Justin Bramall & it was lovely to share a few miles & settle my nerves chatting before he moved along more speedily.
It was hilarious to see the inflatable dinosaurs, sloth & baby shark entertaining everyone at the infamous bottleneck on the first climb where 771 runners have to climb one by one over a stile( or was it through a kissing gate, I can’t even blimmin remember now but it takes a long time whatever!! No one minds as it’s a great chance for a rest🙈)
For context-on Frank’s bucket list was walking through Hereford dressed as a dinosaur along with his best friend Lake. The Sloth here was even wearing a sign saying “ Be More Sloth” Too good to miss a photo opportunity & coincidence like that & a chance to tell them about !!
And so the miles & the hours rolled by including the first night. There’s something really special about running through the night & gradually seeing fingers of light spread across the sky until that wonderful moment you can turn off your head torch & the new day is really here!!
So many people to share a few minutes or miles with, so many stories to hear about people’s whys for being there. Incredible checkpoints staffed by the kindest of volunteers,many with different themes such as “ Zombie Apocalypse “ “Wizard of Oz”& even The Chocolate Cake one at Blencathra in honour of a valued member of the Ultrarunning community who had recently died, plus my obvious favourite of course-The Hardmoors one- number 7 at Dockray, nearly halfway!!! Absolutely lush to feel the Hardmoors love & get my poorly grazed knee sorted out.
The field was really thinning out into Saturday & I spent lots of time alone too, very content in my own company as well as with the pockets of time I spent with others. I was aware my time was slipping with the awful rocky terrain & I think as sleep deprivation was kicking in I was getting increasingly rage filled that i couldn’t move faster, which wasn’t helped by rain making the ground slippery too. I m chuckling now thinking back but it definitely made me want to not be around people as I was thinking I wouldn’t be great company😭 At Ambleside, I laid down on the checkpoint floor with my coat over my head meaning to get about 30 minutes sleep. I don’t feel as if I slept but suddenly it was 45 minutes later & I needed to get my arse out of there ASAP even though heading out into the pitch dark & pouring rain didn’t feel like a very appealing prospect!! It was here I met Laura Goodwin ( thank God!!) & we set out together. Before long another trail angel lol in the form of Ryan Plews caught us up & the 3 of us really kept each other propped up & moving forward, united in our grumbling & complaining 😭but never really doubting that we d get there in the end & of course , as dawn broke, it all seemed so much better!!
At the last checkpoint- number 14 - Tilberthwaite , only 5k ish to go, I knew there was a supposed “ sting in the tail” & my God was there ever?!!!😭 A seemingly endless scramble uphill from Jacobs Ladder then resulted in apparently the worst downhill of the bloody course too😤😤😤 A never ending torturous near vertical slog downhill on mud, shale, rocks & gravel delightfully combined 😩 to the copper mine…. but then…… TARMAC!!!!! Real actual gently sloping downhill tarmac!!!!🥳🥳🥳
It felt surreal- putting my poles away & actually running freely. Absolutely felt like I flew that final mile & with the biggest grin stretched across my face, absolute wings on my feet & the reception coming back into Coniston & the Finish is something I will never forget EVER!!!
Would I do it again???? I don’t think so, there’s too many amazing races out there & so much to learn & take away from each one. I did what I dreamt of doing for around the last 3 years in getting a finishers T Shirt at one of the toughest 100 milers in the UK. The thing I was most concerned about was the second night of sleep deprivation but as it turned out I really didn’t need to be as worried about that as I thought. Hallucinations are very common amongst Ultrarunners & mine weren’t bad at all- I think having had 7 kids has probably given me ample preparation & training🤣 Amusingly during the dark around Ambleside I was starting to see the rocks I was absolutely cursing, turning into chocolate cakes of varying shapes & sizes but strangely all with vanilla cream in the middle!!🤷‍♀️
I just want to say hugest thanks again for the generous donations I ve received for Without my involvement with The Cleals I m pretty sure I’d still be an anxiety-filled,casual jogger,drinking too many alcohol units.The life I have now, the adventures I ve had ,the wonderful friends I’ve made & the strength I feel mentally & physically are light years away from that person I was a few years ago & I m so very grateful.It means so much to me to try to give a little back in helping support families facing a child’s cancer diagnosis.
All the messages of encouragement before, during & after my Lakeland 100 have absolutely meant the world to me-to know so many of you were dot watching & willing me on, all my heartfelt thanks❤️
Watch this space then for possibly an even longer opportunity for race dot watching….maybe…🤔

Had to be reluctantly be separated from my Finishers T Shirt as it REALLY needed a wash🙈 Just wondering if it’s too much to wear my medal everywhere instead?!!🤔
Great to be at Center Parcs now for a teeny bit of “recovery” Cycling & Swimming with the family- just hope I don’t fall off the blimmin bike & do my other wrist in now too😭
I m slowly working my way through all the wonderful messages I ve had. I m so touched I can’t tell you - thankyou is just soooooo inadequate, I m absolutely humbled.
I will pull together somehow my thoughts about my Lakeland 100 over the coming days but also trying not to get into too much trouble for being on my phone 🙈🙈🙈

God it’s nice it eat stuff that isn’t sweets, chocolate & gels again!!! Still wearing my Finishers T Shirt of course!!😭 I have had a shower since finishing honestly but CBA with a hair Wash & using my poor sprained wrist as an excuse🙈 Would it be REALLY way too indulgent & lazy to try get an appointment in Keswick for a hairdresser to do it?!!!!🤔

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Lakeland 100 ✅💪 Finished in 39hrs 25🥵 Bounced round like the Duracell Bunny for about an hour then the wheels fell off after 2 sleep deprived nights haha so collapsed for a few hours sleep( in my finishers t shirt of course- that’s never coming off🤣). I’ll say more when I can string a sentence together but just had to say the HUGEST thankyou to everyone for your wonderful messages of support!!! Here’s my finishers video & a couple of pics ❤️

https://lakeland100.com/2026/07/03/tracking-for-competitors/
Number 467
Kit check done & ready for the off at 6pm💪🥳🌻
Incredible atmosphere here in Coniston, so excited now!!!!( if slightly terrified!!)❤️
https://gkcct.enthuse.com/pf/lesley-lewis-lakeland100?fbclid=IwdGRjcATOB5BwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6TTboIjUpdytbBJubHeCd0QFJhaFvfq2NL0Fzh0QX7tTLh3yD8B-YbDeeZZQ_aem__wa3DV-TJyIboT1zo2kdlQ&utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1demonysl21m4

https://lakeland100.com/2026/07/03/tracking-for-competitors/
Last leg stretch before catching the train to the Lake District! Feeling strong & ready as I’ll ever be now!💪 So full of joy for this thing I do & hugely full of gratitude for this 55 year old body that’s given birth to 7 kids & still allows me to do this Ultrarunning stuff relatively injury free & certainly free of the back & pelvic floor issues that so many women my age sadly suffer with (thankyou 26 years of Pilates & Michael King!!!)
I gave up drinking alcohol completely in January this year to give myself the best possible chance of finishing The The Montane Lakeland 50 & 100 & turns out it’s also been the best thing I could ever have done for myself mentally- if anyone feels this is an avenue they’d like to explore then please read “Easy Way for Women to Quit Drinking” by Allen Carr. It blimmin is & I can’t recommend it highly enough.
The latest addition to my tattoo collection has healed nicely now & massive thanks to Liarna at Monster Ink Aberystwyth for squeezing me in so I could take with me to Lakeland 100 this beautiful little reminder on my calf that I’ve got this- it’s Epona ( the Goddess of Horses) with the Celtic symbol the Triskele which translates very loosely as 100 plus other meaningful themes, swirled in. It’s a nod to my favourite books as a child- Jinny at Finmory by Patricia Leitch (& re read countless times as an adult, including to my own kids)my lifelong love of horses & of course, that by happy coincidence, my first 100 miler was Epona 100❤️

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