Choose a Challenge Reviews 232

Whilst visiting Athens last New Year, I took a tour of the ancient Panathenaic Stadium, and was told it is now the finishing line for the Athens marathon.

Having previously completed both London and Brighton marathons. I was looking to do a third and final marathon and was keen to complete one abroad.

Athens is the birthplace of the marathon, and seemed the perfect choice.

I got in touch with Choose A Challenge who still has some places normally available to students. They kindly allowed me (aged 43) to join their team.

All I had to do was raise £1,290 two months before the race.

Chose A Challenge would then organise the flights, accommodation, food, and even excursions, as well as entry to the race and travel.

I chose from one of their five selected charities, to raise money for Amnesty International.

I had nearly a year to train and stuck to a strict training plan, that incorporated a half marathon and a 10k race to raise money for other charities too.

The team at Choose A Challenge were brilliant, keeping in touch through the year and organising everything.

By the time Athens came around, I felt fighting fit, ready to go and excited.

I was joining a group of over 40, students from Derby, Nottingham and Glasgow universities.

Although I felt a little daunted joining them. Although some of them were now graduates, I was still twice the age of each of them.

Despite this, everyone was kind and friendly and made me feel welcome.

I was surprised by how social and engaging they all were. I had really interesting conversations and enjoyed getting to know a lot of them.

I was made to feel part of a team and the experience was incredible.

Running can be a very solitude and isolated activity, but being able to share the challenge as part of a group, made the whole experience much more enjoyable.

I felt supported and celebrated, as we all came together to get through the race and reflects afterwards. Sharing our experiences, stories, and photos from the event.

The team from Choose A Challenge, expertly led by Tom, made the entire trip stress and worry free. They took care of everything, in a straight forward and efficient way that didn’t feel strict. It was also lovely to feel supported and looked after by them.

The accommodation they chose for us we excellent as were the meals they arranged, which really added to the experience.

As a solo traveller, the entire trip would have cost me so much more if I had done it on my own, and if I am honest, I would have felt lonely.

It was brilliant to spend time with the rest of the group during our free time, visiting museums and sights and having meals and drinks together.

I can’t thank them enough for making me feel so welcomed, it was incredible to complete the authentic Athens Marathon and to raise money for charity.

Just finished Athens Marathon with choose a challenge - this was such a great experience and the team was so well organised and super supportive! Would 100% recommend

I did the Athens Marathon with Choose a Challenge and it was incredible. Everyone was so friendly and supportive especially our leaders Tom and Katja and the trip was so well organised from start to finish. Truly an amazing experience!

Ran the Athens marathon with a lovely company, brilliant staff, shout out Tom Jones massive legend.

Everything was well planned, from arrival to the end. The staff and guide during our trek was amazing. They where super friendly and very knowledgeable, which for me is a great plus as i have many questions 😅

The food during the trip was also very very good, i am amazed how they could make it taste so good with the tools available on the trek.

Just completed the Everest base camp trek with choose and challenge! Our Guide,Budda, was amazing, incredibly smart and knew every tiny detail about the Himalayas, local culture, and religions. A very well connected guide that went up and above every single day to make the experience a once in a life time event!

Our porter, Binod, was just as amazing! Carry a majority of our bags each day and never went a minute without a huge smile on his face and making sure we were accommodated with all we needed!

Top pair! Genuine people that clearly love what they do!

I will be back!

So well looked after, didn’t have to think or stress about the trip at all because it was all so well organised and safe. I met so many new and amazing people I wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t taken part.

Had an incredible time climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and the guides were incredible. Shout out to one guide, Jerry Hunter who brought energy everyday and went above and beyond the next day by taking me and a mate around Moshi.

I did the Kilimanjaro trek with Leeds and it was the best experience of my life.
From signing up, the staff at Choose A Challenge were great, as well as our challenge leaders.
On the trek, all the porters, guides, chefs were fantastic including Emmanuel, Jerry, Frank, Paskal and the rest!
Would for sure recommend Choose A Challenge if you're looking to do adventures like these!

Had a great experience as a challenge leader with Choose a challenge - we did mt Kilimanjaro and it was fantastic!

From signing up, the staff at Choose a challenge and our charity were really helpful. It was great that we were able to raise a great amount of money for charity while having a once in a lifetime experience.

While in Tanzania, the staff were great including the choose a challenge rep Alannah, all of the guides and porters including Jerry, Frank, Emmanuel, Diana and lots more.

My advice to anyone looking at a trip with choose a challenge would be to familiarise yourself with what you're signing up for - make sure you know your fundraising target and deadline, and defer if you have to. It's better to wait a year than to lose your trip!

I did the Budapest Marathon with Choose a Challenge and it was honestly amazing! 🌍💪 Lara and Tom, our trip leaders, were incredible, super friendly, organised, and made the whole experience totally stress-free. Everything ran so smoothly, and I could just focus on enjoying the run and the city. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’d 100% recommend Choose a Challenge to anyone thinking about taking on an adventure like this. Couldn’t have asked for a better trip! Thank you

Completed the Budapest marathon with choose a challenge. They were a great help during the fundraising and Tom and Lara’s leadership during the time here has been flawless. They really helped make a tough challenge an enjoyable and unforgettable experience

goat advisors - tom and lara

Amazingly ran from start to finish. Couldn’t recommend it more!

The whole adventure is what made this experience amazing, what I loved most about it is how we trekked through different biomes each day. So it would almost feel like we were passing through different worlds and my favourite was when we finally reached the iconic landmark Machu Picchu!
The staff and tour guides were the best I have had, they looked after all of us extremely well making sure we were fed everyday and kept in prefect condition physically for the hiking.

The trip of a lifetime and so well organised, the team were also super helpful from a communication standpoint!

Trip was very well organised, when we got delayed at Lukla the organisers did the upmost to make sure we were well looked after and knew exactly what was going on. Guides were extremely friendly and very knowledgeable about the history of the region and the people. Got to see lots of very cool stuff. Would recommend to anyone.

Absolutely loved the trip and Clara was amazing! Thought everything was very well organised and felt very safe

The organisation and fluidity of the Everest base camp trip made everything very enjoyable and stress free.

All of the staff are incredibly helpful and professional.

Would highly recommend!

Trip was incredible ! Organised, questions answered immediately, always on hand to help students. Safety always came first.