The weeks are slowly counting down towards the June Bank Holiday weekend and the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon, and three familiar faces are looking forward to the big day, having already faced up to big challenges themselves this year.

Clare Scanlon, Noeleen Lynam and Lucy Dillon will be well known to viewers of the massively popular RTÉ show Operation Transformation, and the three ladies are now gearing up for their next milestone – the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon.

The three Leaders from the RTÉ show are looking forward to the event as they continue the training regimes that saw them drop a combined 64.9 lbs over the course of the show.

Clare Scanlan is fighting through the pain barrier at the moment with a troublesome knee injury but she is adamant that it will not stop her making the finish line in Dublin in June.

“I’m not setting out to jog it because of my surgery. I have my cartilige torn and i am aiming to walk it but I hope to jog a little bit too. They are kicking off a new park run in Newcastle West in the coming weeks and I will definitely be doing that but at the moment I’m walking every couple of nights and cycling.

“I’m doing the bike to suit my knee, it’s non-resistant, you’re not putting pressure on it, but I’m also walking two nights a week plus the exercises online from Karl Henry so it’s a combination of all those you know. ”

One of the most important things aspects of the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon is of course the fact that it is something for women of all ages, and abilities to enjoy and Clare says that even if she can’t run it, she’ll still finish it and use the training as part of a healthy life-style.

“A lot of people walk it anyway- the majority of people do walk it. Running isn’t for everyone, it might never be for me even, but you never know!

This [staying healthy and fit] is a long term project. I have come a long way in a short time, the intensity we had on Operation Transformation, I suppose you couldn’t sustain that. Right now it’s about preparing for the Mini-Marathon and getting into a rhythm that suits your lifestyle. I’ll definitely keep it up and won’t go back to the way I was definitely.”

Her fellow Operation Transformation leaders Noeleen Lynam and Lucy Dillon were in full agreement that the fitness kick wouldn’t stop once the cameras stopped rolling on the show and Noeleen is working hard to get herself ready for the race.

“It’s going well,” she says of her prep. “I downloaded a plan, we had the app for doing the 5k and now I’ve to move up to the 10k and I’m following that to the best of my ability and it’s going well – hopefully I’ll be ready for June!”

“I know with Operation Transformation people say “oh my gosh [what happens] once it finishes?” but they (RTÉ) are very good and we had a life coach session with Dr Eddie where your goals for the next year were set out, either fitness or in other areas. I actually find that I try to do the running and swimming every second day and the resistance training on the other days, and I have got to the stage that I feel if I don’t do them I’m missing out. I feel bad for not doing them! It’s not something that would have happened before but you get into that way of thinking and when you know how good you feel after doing the exercise, you don’t want to give that up.“

Lucy Dillon agrees and believes that park run is the perfect way to get yourself ready for the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon. She says having the goal of the race has helped her carry on her work from the show.

“It has definitely, if not helping me even more. My fitness regime is stricter than my food plan at the moment – that hasn’t gone out the window, I’m lighter now than I was on the show- but my fitness plan is going very well.

“I find it easier now, I’m doing more exercise  than when I was on the show because Op Trans was very intense, trying to fit everything in. I can now do it at my own leisure rather than fitting it around the camera. Even on Wednesday night there I did a 10k in Dundalk and that’s something I couldn’t do when on the show.

“I do the park run every Saturday morning and that gives me confidence knowing that I have that every Saturday. Other than that I’m on a ten week training plan, the interval training is good. I signed up for the 10k to give me a taste of it.”

Her advice for anyone still thinking about signing up for the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon is do it and then get yourself down to the nearest park run to get into your stride.

“Jump in, do the park run, there’s plenty of people doing it and that will push you on because you’re not on your own. There’s still plenty of time to get ready for the mini-marathon. You can walk it if you want, and anything you do between now and then is a bonus really.”

Get your official Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon gear now at Elverys.ie http://bit.ly/1MBVRbE