Postie is determined life should begin before she turns 40

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Rachel's determined life should begin well before she turns 40

http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/news/Rach ... ticle.html

RACHEL Foster is not the sort of woman who is going to grow old gracefully — she is going to do it in an outrageous and exciting fashion.

That's why the 38-year-old Exeter postwoman has decided to set herself 40 challenges to be completed before she hits 40, on October 12, 2010.

Rachel, who is married to Bill, 62, and has a son, Oliver, seven, is starting it off with a Christmas Day swim in the sea off Exmouth. After that, the sky is, literally, the limit.

She said: "I have decided to do a whole range of mad things that I have always wanted to do and feel I should do before I'm 40. I am looking forward to them all, except perhaps the last, skydiving.

"I decided that before I am 40 I had to have some excitement but I'm not just doing it for myself but to raise money for ChildLine at the same time."

Rachel, of Hampshire Close, St Thomas, added: "It's not that I am afraid of getting old it's just that I suddenly realise I can remember my mother when she was 40.

"I feel older than I am and Bill feels younger than he is. He may be 24 years older than me but we sort of meet at 45.

"He is very supportive of my idea and it is not as if I have had a sheltered life.

"I have done one or two mad things — I even abseiled off Exeter College tower for Exeter Mobility — mind you, I was in tears before I could get over the parapet," said Rachel.

"I want to do all these things over the next two years, not only for me but also for ChildLine. I had a wonderful childhood, Oliver has a loving family and when I hear about some of the ChildLine stories I get so sad I felt I had to do something."

To back Rachel in her 40 challenges go to http://www.justgiving.com/rachels40challenges

Rachel's Challenges:

Rachel plans to: be a boss, on telly, in a BMX race, walk the coast path, feed and wash elephants, go on the Great West Run, drive a tank, eat something horrid, be a dinner lady, have a full makeover, be on the radio, do an abseil, ride a horse, wear pyjamas at work, read a story to a class of kids, sing at karaoke, drive a bus, do a dog show, drive a racing car, get put in the stocks; ride in a police car, learn to ride a motorbike, spend the day in pyjamas at a BMX meeting, sit in a bath of baked beans, get a photo of a rugby team; get a photo of a football team, go down the red slide at Crealy Great Adventure Park, go on a cycle ride, be a Butlin’s Red Coat, drive a tractor, go clay pigeon shooting, be a mannequin in shop window, clean windows at Renslade House in Exeter, wash 40 cars, be in the newspaper, row 40 miles, run or walk 40 miles; cycle 40 miles and skydive.