PHOTO: EDDIE MACDONALD
Elite sport is a hard taskmaster. To race against the best requires toughness and a ruthless competitive edge. But despite her background as one of the country’s top junior middle-distance runners, there’s little evidence of those traits in Rachel Stringer these days. It’s easy to see how her personality has helped her translate her sport background into a career as a sport presenter: a warm, constantly positive presence, she’s relaxed and clearly in her element leaping through the mud on Hampstead Heath, London, for our cover shoot. “Maybe I’m just more chilled in my old age!” she jokes when asked about it.