Many of us would think that at 46, it would be too late start training for a marathon or triathlon, but not Sarah Jouault. And at 72 she’s still going!
Sarah has had a fascinating life, from being born in Oxfordshire to spending 13 years in Africa as a nurse and raising her children, then moving back to the UK in the mid-80s and working as a hairdresser.
But losing her first husband was the initial motivator for starting her running and fundraising career.
She decided to take up running to help escape; a place to work through her life experiences so far. But she had no idea of the journey that running would take her on.
Since she took up the sport, Sarah has run 108 races, winning 25 of them, and has represented the UK in 11 World Championships. From marathons to triathlons and ironman events, she has been all over the world to take part, including France, Canada, USA, Ireland and even Hawaii.
And for every one of these events, Sarah raised money for sick children. So far, her total fundraising has reached over £165,000 for charities such as Chestnut Tree House, The Snowdrop Trust and Rockinghorse Children’s Charity.
Sarah has previously raised money for us by running marathons and this year she has decided to do it all over again, “For my sins, and at the age of 72, I’ve decided to do the London Marathon again; the fifth one that I’ll have done for you.
“The first one I did for you was in 2000, when it was The Rocking Horse appeal. And then I did it in 2009 in my fastest London Marathon time of three hours 31 minutes.
“Then in 2012, Rockinghorse, unbeknown to me, sponsored me for the London Olympics Gold Challenge where people of all ages were put forward to take part in sports for charity, with the chance to run in the Olympic Stadium.”
Asked why Sarah has chosen to support Rockinghorse again this year, she said, “The projects Rockinghorse funds for children in the South of England are so important and means they don’t have to travel to places like Great Orange Street for treatment.
“It’s a very important charity. I have four children and lots of grandchildren so to me, looking after children is so important.”
So far, her training is going well, despite not running this distance since 2018.
Sarah said, “I’ve just been doing two or three runs a week, just to get myself back into running. They say before you start the training, you should be out to doing eight or 10 miles. I haven’t done a 10 miler yet but this Saturday, I’m attempting to do just over nine miles with my dog cross country. So that’ll be like doing a half marathon because it will be so muddy!”
“When I started running it felt really important to have a particular reason. I found out about a little girl called Harriet who had a very rare condition called leukodystrophy and who was in desperate need of a new wheelchair for school that cost £5,500.
“So, I said that I would run the Dublin marathon and raise the money, which I did!”
And this set the pattern for Sarah, pushing herself to take part in more and more challenging events and raising money for thousands of children.
“I started running when I was 46 years old. And then I started doing triathlon when I was 48. I got to the World Iron Man Championships when I was 57. And I did my fastest iron man when I was 63.
“There was a while, especially during lockdown and when I had cancer, that I couldn’t train, but in 2024 I started again and finished the year doing three iron men events. I felt so fit that I thought, ‘I can’t give this up!’”
“So, I’ve decided that every single year, as long as I can, I’m going to do a triathlon, because swimming, cycling, and running, keep your whole body right.”
To find out more about Sarah’s training journey, take a look at her Facebook or Instagram pages. And to sponsor her, just visit her Just Giving page here.
And if you’ve been inspired to take up a new challenge, why not take a look at our Events page to find something to sign up for.
