About Sabrina
Sabrina Pace-Humphreys is a 44-year-old mother of 4 and grandmother of 3, an award-winning businesswoman, an ultrarunner, a social justice activist and a recovering alcoholic. She is a mixed-raced woman, the daughter of a white Scottish Roman Catholic woman and a Black man.
In July 2020 she co-founded the fast-growing community and campaigning charity, Black Trail Runners, and is also a well-known ultra-marathon runner. She finished the 'toughest footrace on earth', a 250km multi-stage marathon across the Sahara Desert known as the Marathon des Sables, as 10th UK woman and most recently she completed the Spine Race, a non-stop 268 miles race down the Pennine Way.
Sabrina is the author of Black Sheep: A Story of Rural Racism, Identity and Hope “In Black Sheep, Sabrina reveals how she got from there to here: about growing up in a home, a school and a town where no-one looked like her and her subsequent struggle to understand and find her identity; about her lived experience of rural racism; about becoming a teenage mother and her determination to break that stereotype; about her battle with alcoholism and her mental health; about how running saved her life; and ultimately about how someone can not only survive but thrive in spite of their past. Sabrina's experience will chime with anyone who has felt like an outsider. Poignant and eye-opening, and exploring themes of trauma, identity, mental health and addiction, Black Sheep is a tale of triumph: of grit and determination, of hope over despair.”
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Show notes
Who is Sabrina
Previously chatting on the TGP - July 7th 2020
What was happening in late 2020
Launching Black Trail Runners (BTR) in July 2020
Black Trail Runners - writing an open letter to race organisers
Taking about the issues and the lack of diversity in trail runners
Moving house, welcoming a new grandchild, running the Ramsey Round
Doing the 3 peaks challenge and seeing me at the top of Ben Nevis (Watch the vlog)
Building the community of Black Trail Runners and the impact
Having the uncomfortable conversations
Collecting ethnicity data
Having a BTR race fund
Taking real action and breaking down the barriers
Running the 4.5% challenge in 2021
Working with youth groups
Coping with the mental and emotional pressure
Running and mental health
Running as a form at activism
Understanding her why of running the Spine Race
Working with her running coach Damien Hall
Figuring out her race strategy and how her race goals changed over time
Focusing on the “B” goal - completing the race
Focusing on 10k stretches and reaching certain views
Keeping in the moment and not thinking about the full distance
Struggling with sleep deprivation and figuring out a new sleep strategy
The power of sleep and needing 30 mins of sleep at every checkpoint
Dealing with food pain and having to implement a pain management strategy
Training for the Spine Race and what a typical week looked life
Doing more back to back training runs and weighted runs