Breakfast Conversation with guest speaker Birte Hayes

Welcome back to the Henley Female Network where every fourth Friday  of the month we provide a warm, supportive and welcoming space for conversation, inspiration and connection. Take time for yourself and come along to expand your personal and professional network as you connect with like-minded women. All women are welcome - whether you're self employed, employed, currently taking a break or anything in between. Come for joy, for friendship, for business or for life. Our focus is on connection first and we find that when we start there business and friendship follow naturally.

The Art of Going Further Than You Planned: Lessons from the Marathon des Sables 

Join us this month as we hear from Birte, a German mum of three living in Henley, who signed up at the age of 40 for one of the toughest endurance races: Marathon des Sables.

What started as a simple goal to ‘just finish’ the 270km across the Sahara Desert, carrying everything needed to survive, turned into something far more unexpected: finishing 9th woman and 104th overall out of 1,350 runners. But this morning is not really about running. It is about what happens when life is stripped back to the essentials. When comfort, routine and expectation fall away and you are left with something much simpler: consistency, mindset and the ability to just keep going.

It is also about permission. Permission to do something that might feel a little out of reach. Permission to be a beginner. Permission to step outside of your usual identity for a short time, whether that is through sport, adventure or simply choosing something for yourself without guilt. So many of us would look at something like the Marathon des Sables and think it is “not for me.” Birte used to feel exactly the same. Her story gently challenges that idea, not by suggesting we all need to run 270km across the Sahara, but by exploring what becomes possible when we stop assuming we are not the  kind of person who does certain things.

So join us to explore themes of mindset, simplicity, resilience and what can happen when small, consistent actions quietly build into something much bigger than expected. Above all,  come and remind yourself that we are not defined by labels like ‘runner’ or ‘non-runner.’ We are simply human, and often far more capable than we think.

*please note tickets are non refundable but you are welcome to resell at face value if you are no longer able to attend.