Special Agent Races to Success on Gruelling Course used by the SAS

An estate agency worker has achieved a huge triumph by finishing first in a gruelling 24 km race in the Brecon Beacons.

Mother of three, Louise Wood, who works for Gibbs Gillespie in Gerrards Cross, came first in the female section of the Fan Dance run which features running up and down the Pen Y Fan, the highest mountain in the Beacons.

The course, which takes in cobbled tracks, steep climbs and no paved areas, is part of the SAS and other special military forces’ training and endurance runs.

Louise, was among 400 others who took part on Saturday 4 June, and described her victory in the Clean Fatigue as ‘unexpected’ and left her feeling ‘euphoric’.

Louise who works in the company’s Land and New Homes Department said: “When you hear the name Fan Dance it sounds a bit of easy fun but it’s far from it. The SAS use it in their training exercises and it is renowned among endurance runners for being really tough.

“I love running and trained for six months for this and just gave it a real go. When I reached the half way point and a guy told me I was the first woman past I couldn’t believe it.

“It spurred me on and I kept going by just thinking how proud my three boys would feel about their mum. When I reached the finished line I was emotional but really chuffed to have not only completed the course but to have won my category.”

Louise, who lives in Bourne End, Hertfordshire and has worked for Gibbs Gillespie for 16 years, was the seventh person to cross the line and at one point had to clamber up the steepest section on all fours to get to the top.

The Clean Fatigue category is for people taking part without any additional extra weight such as rucksacks.

Louise added: “It was a really memorable experience for me especially getting to the top of Pen Y Fan and literally running in the clouds.”

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

Home and Living

High Quality Modular Homes for the UK

Are you looking for added accommodation space in your garden / on your land? Modular Living Homes by tutumHOUSE offer a new way to live – minimalist in form, rich in experience. “There are approximately 9.6 million homes in the UK with a garden shed, and around 52% of the population owns one.” asgardsss There…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

The most stressful places to move to in the UK

With more people in the UK moving homes during summer than any other season and the average cost of moving in the UK rising to over £14,000, picking the right place to move to has become more crucial than ever. Luckily, new research from Pay Less for Storage reveals the UK cities that make life easiest…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Time-Traveling Estate Agent Sequel Climbs Amazon Charts

A UK Estate Agent Currently Bringing Joy to People’s Lives – Shame He’s Fictional…   Eric Meek, the fictional estate agent created by author Dale Bradford, is back for a second outing in The Time‑Travelling Estate Agent 2, a sequel that is already climbing Amazon’s bestselling time‑travel rankings. Estate agents were recently highlighted as the third…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Is it finally time for lenders to back green homes?

Andrew Smith weighs the risks and rewards Property developers are increasingly pitching green homes to lenders; however, with sales cycles slowing down and repair costs rising, is now the right time to back sustainable builds and at what price point is there market demand? Sustainability is continuing to shape our future of construction with the…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 24/07/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   OpticWise – digital infrastructure in commercial real estate If your building were a product, how would it perform on the user experience scale?  Week 9: Experience as Infrastructure – Designing for Human-Centric Buildings Welcome to Week 9 of our 52-week journey into the future…
Read More
new build homes colchester essex
Breaking News

UK Housebuilding Falters as Construction Hiring Flatlines

New research from Inventory Base reveals that UK construction industry employment has increased by almost 11% in the past five years, but there has been less than 1% growth in the past 12 months. Inventory Base’s analysis of the UK construction industry shows that in 2024 (latest data available) it employed an estimated total of…
Read More