After three great years at Stockopedia — filled with hundreds of company analyses, articles, webinars and conversations with subscribers (I’ve enjoyed every single one) — I’m gearing up for my next adventure. It’s going to be a big one…
In October, I am going to set off in a bid to become the fastest woman to run around the full coast of the island of Great Britain.
Why and why now?
When I was 10, my uncle walked around the coastline of Britain in aid of Parkinson’s Disease research. He was 33 at the time and had been diagnosed with an early onset version of the condition a few years previously.
I remember being very proud of Uncle Tom, especially when he came into school to present the prizes, but as far as walking the coast went, to my 10 year old brain, it was nothing out of the ordinary. That’s just what Uncle Tom did.
I’ve long harboured an ambition to follow in his footsteps. To see the whole of Britain’s coastline, meet people from all around the country, see the sea every day. That desire has become particularly strong in the last few years as I have spent time falling in love with long distance and trail running. Running the coast paths of the UK, has become a burning ambition.
But I have never really had a good enough reason to do it. I love being a financial journalist. I love hunting out opportunities, meeting managers and analysing the numbers. But most of all, I love helping other people see the full benefits of the stock market. While I’ve been focused on work (and the other things that most normal people do with their days), running Britain has become nothing more than a secret dream.
Until January of this year, while I was out running the coast paths in Suffolk, and the reason for running Britain crystallised in my mind.
It was at the end of one of those weeks that had been quite depressing for British investors (and the population as a whole). Lower than expected growth statistics, worrying tax changes and the continued exodus of companies from the London market.
But as I ran past the pig fields, the nuclear power station at Sizewell, the fishing boats hauling in their catches, and caught glimpses of the brewery at…
