Youngest Female To Race The Planet’s Four Deserts Motivated By Mental Health

Youngest Female To Race The Planet’s Four Deserts Motivated By Mental Health

We are very proud and excited to introduce you to Jacqui Bell, who has set herself a huge challenge for 2018, to be the youngest Female in the World to complete Racing the Planet’s Four Deserts Grand Slam in one calendar year while raising awareness for depression and funds for White Cloud Foundation.

The 4 Deserts is one of the world’s leading endurance footrace series. A unique collection of world-class events that take place over 7 days and 250 kilometers in the largest and most forbidding deserts on the planet. Competitors are challenged to go beyond the limits of their physical and mental endurance. Racing self-supported in the most inhospitable climates and formidable landscapes, they must carry all their own equipment and food and are only provided with drinking water and a place in a tent each night to rest. A little about Jacqui :
My name is Jacqui Bell and I am 22 years of age. The last 6 years have brought about various ups and down, you name it and I am sure to have given it a go. I am from a great family; they are my biggest influencers. They have always encouraged me to live a healthy and active lifestyle.
Moving out of home, being caught up in the stresses of everyday life as an adult and having less contact with my family on a regular basis caused me to lose touch with my healthy lifestyle.
I have always been driven, ambitious, motivated and determined to achieve whatever I set my mind to, however over the last few years, these values were not always clear.

I have experienced first hand what it is like to feel insecure, helpless and make emotionally charged mistakes. Even though everything may appear perfectly normal to the outside world, before taking on running more seriously, I was battling many inner demons. Professionals call this depression.

What helped me change?

Running brings purpose and meaning to my life, I love it. It makes me want to jump out of bed every morning and be the best version of myself. It has helped to revive me physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. 

I have been working in the fitness industry for 6 years in a variety of roles, which include managing gyms, group training, personal training and am currently completing my Sport & Exercise Science Degree. Aside from my experience in the fitness industry, I have also been lucky enough to live and travel overseas on various occasions.  I loved being immersed in different cultures, experience new ways of doing and thinking about things and also challenging myself every day. This sense of adventure has seen me travel, live and work in over 30 countries.

Whilst traveling, I found it hard to stay fit and in routine, so I turned to running, all I needed was some joggers and the outdoors. This is when my true passion began.
I used to run for fitness & leisure and I never thought of competing until 2015 when I entered my first trail running event (18km). I loved the competition and 2 months later I signed up for a 50km Ultra Marathon, I had caught the bug and then entered every race I could!

 The 2018 Running challenge:
I won’t only be tackling 20-50km trails run over the next few months, but I am going to be running 250 km in the Sahara Race in Namibia, the Atacama Crossing in Chile, the Gobi March in China and The Last Desert in Antarctica. I am taking on this ultimate challenge to raise awareness for a predicament that I personally have battled, depression.

You can support Jacqui by making a donation to her fundraising page here

Jacqui also has opportunities for sponsorship, to help her make her way across the corners of the earth to take on this incredible challenge. Please contact us if you can help get her there!