Getting Engaged
Obviously my biggest highlight of 2016 was getting engaged in June. We were on holiday at Tom’s parent’s house in Portugal, the perfect setting (although Tom will admit it didn’t go quite to plan). You can read all about our engagement here. We’ve been planning our September country wedding for the last few months, and I think we’re finally on top of things. I’ve even found a dress that I like!
Being a Bridesmaid
I was honoured to be asked to be a bridesmaid in four friends weddings this year, as well as celebrate many other marriages and engagements. It’s incredible to reflect on the many years I’ve been friends with these girls, and I’m thrilled to be part of their weddings to some awesome guys. I love weddings!
Climbing Kilimanjaro
My greatest and proudest achievement of the year has to be reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. It is the hardest challenge I have ever undertaken, and by far the most rewarding. Standing nearly 6000m tall with the most incredible group of people, hugging, crying, laughing and singing will stay with me forever. I am so grateful to G Adventures, our G Fighters and Jacs, JP, Mike, Princess Ant, Nim, Max and the best tent buddy Katie, for making the trip so enjoyable and creating memories that will last a lifetime.
Winning Vuelio Best Fitness Blog Award
I was over the moon to be awarded best fitness blog at the Vuelio Blog awards a few weeks ago, it was so totally unexpected. I was up against very tough and amazing competition. This year was a real turning point for The Runner Beans, it was the first time I made money from the blog, went on some awesome press trips, formed partnerships with brands I love, and turned this blog into a business.
Running the New York City Marathon
As part of my partnership with New Balance this year I was so grateful to be able to run the New York City Marathon with one of my bridesmaids Zoe. It was an amazing opportunity to run my favourite marathon alongside one of my best friends and reflect on how far we’d both come as runners since we first ran the race in 2013. The city was bathed in sunshine, the roads lined with supporters, and I smiled most of the way from start to finish. Check out my marathon video and blog post here.
Finishing my Year 1 of Dietetics degree
Embarking on a four year dietetics degree has been tough, but I know it’s the right decision. I finished the first year with good grades, a hatred for biochemistry and a increased enthusiasm for clinical dietetics. We have a lot of work this year, and placements coming up in January, but it all feels worth it. I’ve got my first placement in three weeks which I’m super excited for!
Growing my Instagram
In October 2015 I had 5,000 followers on Instagram, and I’m overwhelmed to be finishing 2016 with over 22,000 of you lovely lot (if you don’t already follow me – what are you waiting for?). A lot of this I think is due to my lovely photographer Will Patrick (go and check him out – he also does weddings!!) The quality of my photos thanks to Will has dramatically increased, but working with him has also taught me a lot about how to take better images on my iPhone and camera. I’m keeping my feed a mix of professional and personal pics, running selfies and self-timer shots to keep it real.
Travelling
I’ve somehow managed to go abroad seven times in the past 6 months, with trips to the USA, Tanzania, Majorca, Portugal and New Zealand. I feel so lucky to have friends to travel with, international buddies to visit, not to mention friends I’ve made along the way. Now that Tokyo is off the cards, other than a honeymoon hopefully to California and Tahiti in September, I don’t really have any real travel plans for 2017…although Sophie and I are off to Austria on a fun blogging ski trip in Jan!
Forgotten Costa Rica? G.
What a year! I really enjoyed reading your Kilimanjaro recaps, it’s something I would love to do one day. Excited to see what adventures 2017 brings for you!
I absolutely love reading year recaps. And what a year 2016 was for you! Looking forward to continuing to follow your adventures in 2017! 🙂
Wow. You had such a fantastic year. I’m jealous of almost every adventure you had, except for the NYC marathon one because I ran that one too! Hooray! Hah I hope 2017 is as fantastic as 2016 was for you!
An amazing year Charlie, how fantastic. So many experiences to look back on that make you smile. Here’s to an even more awesome 2017 with plenty of opportunities and adventures and happiness x
Wow! I recently came across your blog, and absolutely love it. I can’t believe you trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro! That’s actually a goal of mine for 2017 – I’ll definitely be going back to your posts on that for advice 🙂
Amazing, its such a great experience! Let me know if you have any questions, happy to answer them!!