As the weather gradually starts to get cooler, it is becoming more bearable for the capital’s residents to venture outdoors to exercise. Abu Dhabi Week catches up with busy working mum Rachel Chisnell, who has just signed up for next month’s ADNIC Yas Run, to find out how her training is going

Since moving to the capital three years ago, keen runner Rachel Chisnell has found that family life and the hot climate have made it hard to keep active. However, she says she doesn’t regret making the decision to move to the Middle East.

“It was a great opportunity to work overseas. Abu Dhabi’s a very safe environment for the children, there’s great schooling and good weather – apart from the humidity, of course.

“It was a lifestyle change really. Obviously the economy’s taken a bit of a tumble in the UK, so it was a good opportunity to move over here. It has its ups and downs but generally we love it over here.”

Speaking to Rachel, it’s clear that she loves living in the capital. But what made her decide to dust off her running shoes and register for the ADNIC Yas Run?

“I believe that a healthy lifestyle promotes a good way of living. The children tend to do better at school and sleep better at night. I feel more alert in the morning if I’ve done some exercise and it helps to keep me in shape.

“When there is the opportunity to join in a community event like the Yas Run, everybody should welcome it and embrace it. It brings us all a bit closer – there’s a nice social aspect to it.

“I’ve just started my training for the ten kilometre run but I do other exercise generally anyway,” laughs Rachel. “I go to Abu Dhabi Country Club and I do a bit of yoga as well, but I only started my running programme on 1st October.”

One of the added attractions of the ADNIC Yas Run is the chance to compete on the iconic Yas Marina Circuit Formula 1 Grand Prix track.

“I think it will be amazing and because it’s a late start, we’ll be running under floodlights, which will be a fantastic experience. With the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just a couple of weeks beforehand, I also think this is a great follow-on event – although maybe the grandstands won’t be quite as full!”

So, with three kids, a part-time job and a grueling training regime, it’s a wonder she fits it all in. Abu Dhabi Week finds out what goes into a typical day in Rachel’s life…

6.30am: After climbing out of bed, Rachel grabs a quick shower and gets ready for work before getting the children up and making their breakfast. Once she’s made sure their bags are ready and nothing’s been missed, they all jump in the car and it’s off on the school run.

7.30am: Rachel’s children have just started at the newly-opened Brighton College next to Khalifa Park. She drops the two older boys off at the school gates and walks her younger daughter to her classroom.

8.30am: Rachel arrives at Jersey Finance in Al Bateen where she works as an office administrator and PA and gets stuck straight in. After spending the morning making sure everything is running smoothly, she’s normally finished by about 1.30pm.

2pm: “As soon as I finish work, I generally nip to Spinneys or Al Wahda Mall to get the shopping. There’s always other little jobs that need to be done as well – a never-ending demand for friends’ presents, birthday cards and any number of other errands that need to be completed.

“Then I dash to school to pick the kids up; and there’s always some after-school activity, like ballet, golf or swimming.”

5pm: Back at home for the evening, the most important task is to try and get the children to do their homework whilst preparing their supper at the same time.

7pm: As soon as the kids are fed, watered, read to and ready for bed, it’s time for Rachel’s fitness regime to start.

“I’ll either go to a yoga class or I’ll run around our compound which is near the Exhibition Centre. If the weather’s too hot then I’ll run on the treadmill in the gym or do some weights.

“At the moment I’m only doing between three and five kilometers, but I’ll gradually build that up over a couple of weeks. Once I’m into November I’ll do between 8-10km and hopefully I’ll be running 10km once a week in the three weeks leading up to the event.”

8.30pm: Once her training’s finished for the day, Rachel finally gets to sit down for some dinner with her husband before spending some time answering personal emails and making phone calls back to family and friends in the UK.

Final thoughts: “I’d like to do the Yas run in an hour or less, that would be really good for me. I’m a lot older than I was before,” says Rachel with a chuckle. “It’s been three and a half years since my last 10k run. I finished that in about 58 minutes and 20 seconds so that’s pretty much my target this time around – anything over an hour and I’d be a bit disappointed.”

The ADNIC Yas Run is taking place on Saturday 26th November at Yas Marina Circuit. Registration and training plans are available at www.adnicyasrun.ae

Jon Muller