We're nearly a quarter of the way through the Team Run 12 challenge. Two of the twelve marathons have been completed, the third takes place on Sunday 2nd March in Cambridge. We've also raised just shy of £6000 for Breast Cancer Care and Cancer Research UK. As we enter March, I'm feeling more calm and confident about what lies ahead and hoping that the overwhelming support I, and the team, are receiving from you all will continue throughout the year.

People often ask me 'how are you feeling?' and I just smile and say 'I'm doing great'. Mentally, I'm good. Physically, I'm feeling pretty good too, aside from a few expected side effects (disgusting feet and a bi-polar appetite). 

I have to admit that I slightly underestimated how life consuming running twelve marathons would be. In a dream world, I'd just rock up to each race, have a little run around and take the medal. The saying "Always Earned, NEVER Given" rings true. 

I spend all of my time eating, sleeping, training and generally preparing myself for races and fundraisers, and when I'm not doing any of the above, I'm probably talking about one of them. A typical day for me involves getting to work early to make porridge, lunch times are spent planning fundraisers and writing blogs, I train for probably 10 hours a week over 5-6 sessions on the road and in the gym and visit my osteopath at least once a week to keep me in tip top shape! It's quite full on. 

I'm not complaining though, I love what I do and feel incredibly lucky to be the 'face' of something so life-changing. The only 'frustration' I have is feeling that people don't understand how hard actually running a marathon is, let alone how draining it can be to train for one. If you can then take that emotion and times it by twelve, you're probably on par with how I occasionally feel. 

Any one who has trained for a marathon will tell you it is not easy. Your life revolves around your running. It is impossible to escape; you often even dream about it for weeks before race day. And by the time the race is over, you just want to slump in a corner, eat all the crap you've refused yourself for months, catch up on sleep and watch endless awful movies on netflix. I don't have that choice. 

I rest for 24 hours and allow myself a few treats (a tub of Ben & Jerrys is premature carb loading right?), after 48 hours I have a long swim and brutal massage, within 72 hours I will have run several miles. I attempt to sleep for at least 10 hours a night, which means I'm often in bed by 8:30. For the next year, this is all I will do to ensure my body is working as well as it can. I can count on my hands how many glasses of wine I've had this year, and for a 22 year old who likes the odd sambuca fuelled dance-on-a-table, that is somewhat impressive, I feel. 

How far is a marathon? A marathon is 26.2 miles. Those 26.2 miles are life changing. 

Is it easy? In a word, no. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. ANYONE can run a marathon, but it requires dedication, determination and a certain level of mental strength. There's an image that often circulates on twitter that I find quite striking. It is of a man running, the back of his t-shirt reads '50. Fat. Diabetic. AHEAD OF YOU'. I find this incredibly powerful, and evidential that no matter what your situation, you can put one foot in front of the other. Slowly. Or quickly. It's possible. 

I'm not suggesting for a second that you should all jump up and try and run twelve marathons. What I am suggesting is that you do something that challenges you, against your current abilities. 

One man's marathon, is another man's mile. There is no competition in running, except with yourself. Running a mile to some, is second nature, but I challenge you to do it for the first time and not feel an overwhelming sense of pride. 

Isn't it bad for you running that much? No, not at all! I exercise for around 10-hours a week, I eat a balanced, mainly clean diet and work closely with professionals who help to condition my body.  

Look at it this way, unless you work an active job, you probably spend a majority of your day sat down. Sitting down for most of the day puts you at 54% more risk of having a heart attack. I get up in the morning and sit down to do my hair/make up, I then SIT in my car to drive to work, I SIT at my desk all day... Sounding familiar? Most people then go home and SIT and watch TV, eat or read. 

Spend just 30 minutes of your evening doing some form of physical activity and although you aren't counteracting all of the sitting you're doing (according to most internet research), you are being proactive in improving your general health, in turn lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes etc. 

30 minutes is only 2.08% of your day. TWO PERCENT. If you can't spare two percent of your day, from today, three times a week, to better your health, your future and your confidence, when will you spare it? There is no better time to start than now, stop waiting for Monday, start making your body and health your hobby. 

My personal favourite is when someone just looks at me, baffled, as I leave the office in my running kit and says 'But, it's raining?!'  Don't worry about me, I'm waterproof.

Running 12 marathons is something I would never have believed I was capable of - I'm still amazed every time I cross a finish line but with each race I realise how 'possible' this challenge is. I am capable, and so are you.

I frequently get told that I'm 'brave' and 'inspiration', but I'm not. I'm simply just doing what more people should be doing, what everyone should be doing - to their OWN extreme.

Challenge yourself. Prove yourself wrong. Prove everyone else wrong. Inspire others. Help others. Do more. Be the best version of yourself you can be. It's available. Only you can take it. It's possible. It's SO accessible. It's waiting for you. Today. 

Yes, you reading this right now. Whether you are a runner, have never run in your life, whether you're 15 or 65, overweight, underweight or just 'average'. I challenge YOU to go outside and MOVE for 30 minutes. Run if you can, walk when you need to, the only thing that matters is that you keep putting one foot in front of the other for 2.08% of your day. No matter how slow you go, keep moving forwards. 

Track your run/walk/jog/crawl using an iPhone app like 'runkeeper' or take a photo of yourself on the move and send it to me! I'd love to add to this blog with a gallery of all your photos :) 

Please do keep asking questions! Let's get motivated.

Good luck. xo

After the last race review blog, I had plenty of messages asking if there would be a video for this race! We'll be making as many montages as we can throughout the year, not just from the races but from other awareness and fundraising activities; it's a really lovely way to remember everything we're doing and I'm very grateful for Meg, who has put so much time and effort in to these!! So keep an eye on our youtube channel and the blog for updates! 

In the meantime, here's montage number two - enjoy :) 

On February 15th 2014, I finished the Broadmeadows Valentines Marathon, a cross-country race in Stratford Upon Avon. I spent much of the week before praying for snow or a flooded course for three reasons:
1) I very very rarely run trail; when I say rarely, I mean unless I accidentally stumble across some mud during a road run, I just don't do it. 
2) The weather has been so bad that the underfoot conditions were guaranteed to be horrific; injury leading to DNF is my biggest fear this year, one mis-placed step and I could be out for good.
3) I was about to break the biggest rule in the runners handbook: I was going to run in brand new trainers.

Somehow I made it round the course, smiling and laughing, storming through puddles and finished with blister-free feet. A miracle. More so a miracle as we got completely lost, three times en route, and ended up running 30 miles. 

I was lucky enough to be joined by Brian Weatherly again for race number two. For anyone who doesn't know, Brian is the president of the company I work for and a huge supporter of Team Run 12. 

As a seasoned marathoner, Brian has been a fantastic support and we've become great friends on our 56.2 mile journey. I'm not afraid to admit that if Brian hadn't been with me for this race, I would have probably gotten so lost I'd have been unable to finish. 

After collecting our race numbers (I was far too excited at being number two), we set off with a group at 8am. Sticking to the back of the pack, we dodged puddles and battled the wind to run 2 miles down a road and then 2 miles back to the start. A rainbow framed the sky and although the weather wasn't ideal, I felt strong and mentally prepared for the next few hours. 

As we got to mile three a marshal appeared and told us we'd run roughly one mile too far - a sign of things to come... Getting back to our support troop at the start line, I attempted to take my jumper off as quickly as possible, tearing a corner of my race number and throwing one of the five layers I was wearing at Emily. Mark and Meg frantically tried to dress me again, with Mark joking that this was the second race in a row he'd started with his hand up my top (cheeky).

At 8km we found ourselves lost again, and very confused by the limited road markings, thankfully after finding three other lost runners we found our way back on to the track and started to discover the real cross-country element of this race. 

Racing through an open field, we were battered by 35 mph wind, the rain was so harsh and cold that it hurt as it hit your skin, at times the mud was ankle deep, this was NOT going to be easy. As we ran up a narrow hill around 12km I started to wonder if I had this in me, could I really get through this? Thankfully, this was the only time this crossed my mind during the entire race and I started to actually enjoy the challenge - at least I wasn't running in circles this time.

By this point I'd given up on avoiding puddles and instead ploughed directly through them. "I'VE GOT MUD IN MY MOUTH" I shouted to Brian after slightly underestimating the knee deep puddle I'd just charged through, his response was to throw me a jelly baby. 

As we approached our final loop, we realised we had added a huge distance to the marathon. Back up through the open fields, battered once again by the wind, Brian's garmin beeped on his wrist. "We've done it," he said, I looked slightly puzzled as we still had at least three miles to get back to the start line. We ploughed on, taking short breaks to walk as the wind became so strong it was impossible to run against it. The rain was bitterly cold now, and each drop hurt more than the last. 

As we started to recognise where we were, and realised the 'finish line' was approaching, Brian put his arms around me shoulders and congratulated me. I don't know why he was congratulating me, he'd just run 30 miles too. 

It's almost ironic that we happened to finish the race in the middle of bloody nowhere. My mum has missed the past two finish lines - she was too late to see me finish the 2013 London Marathon and went to the toilet for the first Team Run 12 marathon, and now we were in a field, with not even a cow to congratulate us on our ultra-marathon success. 

As the finish line came in to sight, I could see everyone waiting for us, we were walking at this point as my IT band was so tight it was impossible to move with any speed, 'lets do this' I said to Brian, it took all of my energy but I sped up, and up and up, and some how managed to cross the line, at what felt like the fastest pace I'd managed all day.

The overwhelming emotion as my friends and family hugged me will carry me through many races to come. There is a reason I do this, a very personal reason, it gives me strength and belief that anything is possible if you work hard enough. All the pain is so worth that 'finish line feeling'. 

I have had a lot of self doubt in recent weeks. That has all been erased in just five hours. 
2 down, 10 to go.  

With massive thanks to my amazing mum and sister, Emily and Lisa, Mark and Allie (and Jack!), Karen, Darren, Ellie, Paris and of course Richard, having flown all the way from Dubai! 

Thank you to Brian for being an incredible mentor and running partner; and for losing the feeling in your fingers completely to be with me. "The Sparrow".

Thank you to Chris Seeney from Broadmeadow Runs and the marshals who stood in the rain for us, offered words of motivation and provided jelly babies! 

With special thanks to Thoosa and Sweaty Betty for providing my running kit. As always, endless gratitude to Luke Jenner for making sure I made it to the start line.  

In the last thirteen months, with the help of family, friends and Team Run 12, I have been able to contribute £16,163.68* to charity - and the figure rises every single day. 

Team Run 12 are aiming to raise £25,000 this year for Breast Cancer Care and Cancer Research UK and I do not doubt for a second that we will surpass this. There are no real secrets to my fundraising success; my friends and family will tell you that I have no shame when it comes to raising money for our two very worthy charities. I often get asked 'but how?' so, I thought I'd share with you, my Five Fundamental Fundraising Rules. 
* figure correct at time of publishing. Includes gift aid.

1) It's obvious. Really really obvious. ASK. 
So you emailed your colleagues 12 weeks before the marathon telling them you were going to do it? Great. Dozens of them no doubt agreed to sponsor you and 'wow'd' over your determination to succeed but have you seen any cash? Unlikely! 

As the big event approaches, send personalised emails to family, friends and colleagues including your Virgin Money Giving or Just Giving URL. People simply forget. 

Extra Tip: Schedule your emails for two/three days after pay day. 

2) Get Creative.
So you've done a cake sale in the office, you've held a little raffle and now you're running out of ideas, with hundreds of pounds still to be raised... Now's time to get creative!

An average first-time marathon runner will run a 4:30 marathon. That means you could listen to around 90 3-minute songs. Ask friends and family to contribute £2 to your fund and they can pick ANY song for you to listen to during your race. Share your playlist on spotify to prove that you really are listening to Abba and The Vengaboys. 

I'm very lucky to work in an industry that requires me to speak to lots of third-parties; from publishers to builders. I try and avoid 'begging' emails to these unless I have a good relationship with the supplier (and my employer's permission), but offering businesses something in return can be a sure fire way to raise cash! Make space for four logos on the reverse of your running shirt and sell the space to business owners - as little as £20, some generous businesses will pay up to £250!

Some more 'creative' ideas...

1. Hold a 'what time will I finish' sweepstake: ask family, friends and colleagues to guess how long your race will take you, offer the closest guess a prize (50% of the takings or a bottle of wine if you're surrounded by generous people!) 
2. Contact the school/college you attended and see if they'll hold a disco or dress down day on your behalf. 
3. Left over chocolates from Christmas? Bag them up. Surely someone likes the coconut quality street... 

3) But hold on, don't get too creative.
Whilst thinking outside of the box is great, and a guaranteed way to secure more sponsorship than just asking, they key to successful fundraising is knowing what works!

Most of my friends are aged between 20-27, meaning the majority are quite interested in a good night out. My favourite, and biggest fundraiser to date, was the Team Run 12 launch party. We contacted a local nightclub and were given free use of a 120-person room, we then sold tickets to friend and family for £10. Throw in a magician, a cheap raffle and plenty of alcohol and you're on to a sure fire winner. We raised over £1400 in one night and four months on, everyone is still asking when we're planning to hold the next event. Make it memorable! 

4) Keep us up to date...
I am a self confessed twitter addict, having tweeted over 15,000 times on my personal account and nearly 1,000 times on the Team Run 12 account. But it's proven to work, if you do it right! 

Sharing photos, video clips and thoughts from your training sessions will help the people you know engage in what you're doing. Covered in mud? Tweet it! Something made you laugh whilst out running? Blog about it. A bad session? Worthy of a 'I need some motivation' facebook status surely? 

Extra Tip: Don't constantly spam your link. Balance your sponsorship requests with general tweets about your life, training and tips you've picked up on the way. 

Check out the Team Run 12 blog, twitter and facebook, or my old London Marathon Blog and personal twitter for ideas on utilising these tools. 

5) If your heart isn't in it, let someone else take your place.
Minimum sponsorship for races is going up every day. Some charities ask for £2,500+ for a place in the Virgin London Marathon, smaller races start at around £250. Whilst it's tempting to take a place from any charity you need to be realistic with your goals. 

If you cannot guarantee you'll find the time to raise funds, alongside your training, let someone who can take the charity place. If you're a regular charity runner, there's only so many times friends and family will put their hands in their pockets. Fundraising takes a lot of time, effort and sometimes, more dedication than your training plan. 

People often ask me why I'm putting my body through such a gruelling challenge. And having completed just one of the twelve marathons so far, I can already confirm gruelling is a huge understatement. Mentally, I'm fully equipped. Physically, my body is in shock. But my answer to the question is always the same: THE CHARITIES. If I didn't appreciate the work the charities do, I'd be on the road to quitting before I've even really started. 

Team Run 12 has never been about me. It has never been about the team. It's always been about our charities. I am so passionate about the work they do, the support they offer and the life-changing discoveries they are making every day, that people cannot fail to notice. If you're running for a charity you don't believe in, it will show. 

This is actually happening. In 2014, I am going to finish 12 marathons. I can say that, because I've completed the first and, hopefully, most testing race of them all (I'm sure I'll be eating those words very soon)! 

After waking up at 6am, ploughing through a bowl of porridge and smothering my feet in vaseline (top tip for blister prone runners), we were on our way to the Cyclopark in Gravesend, Kent to set up for 'The Team Run 12 Micro-Marathon'. 

Organising a marathon is a massive challenge. Even though only Brian and I were running the entire course, it shocked me how much you have to put in to get to the start line. Medals, T-shirts, finding the runners, entry fees, health and safety forms, the list goes on! But after seven-months of developing Team Run 12 and a frantic month of organising, we now had one task in mind: making it from the start line to the finish line. 

The race would compromise of 17 clockwise laps around a 1.6 mile 'undulating' track. 

The Team Run 12 guest-runners and Brian Weatherly joined Becky on the start line. Setting off at a steady 6.30minute p/km pace, the first lap seemed to pass with ease. I did notice that running clockwise around the course was far hillier than the direction Shelley and I had rehearsed on New Years Eve but at this stage it wasn't bothering me at all. Infact, running up the slope towards everyone cheering made it seem the easiest part of the race (how wrong I was)!  

Each of the guest runners did a fantastic job; some were completely new to running - and when I say completely new, I mean they've been running for less than a month, others have earned the title of 'Iron Man' so I can imagine that my steady 6:30 pace may have seemed a bit pathetic! 

Mark, Elle and Andrew's laps passed with ease as we reached the 10km mark in 62 minutes. 

Brian set small 'goals' as we got around the track and frequently reminded me how far we had to go before we'd hit the next mile stone. '200 metres to 15km', this was great, not for the reasons you suspect but because it gave me something to think about as I tried to convert how far we'd travelled in miles. 

Laps 5, 6 and 7 (Christine, Mark and Andy) all seem to merge in to one as the distance slowly clocked up. 

On lap 7, Grayland warned Brian and I that the person due to run the next lap had already consumed four cans of fosters. Having woken up with a stinking hangover, Bradley had established there was no time for a cure, so continuing to drink was the only option. Somehow, Brad managed to stick to a relatively straight line and completed the course, commenting: "It looks like you're going really slowly but you're actually not when you're doing it". 

Runner number 8, Allie got to share the magical moment that we crossed the half way mark! On the surface I think I looked quite calm, when inside I was wondering how I was going to find it in me to do that AGAIN.

As the laps went on, the course seemed to get longer and longer. Calf cramp had invaded my right leg making every step painful. I was shaking, felt like I could vomit at any second and mentally, I was drained. I don't think anyone, bar Brian, really noticed how much I was struggling which I'm thankful for. 

Nicole joined us at lap 11, and again having only been running for a matter of weeks, she did a superb job of making it round the course. A medal well earned! I really hope that the new runners who joined us for the day will keep running and take from it some of the enjoyment I take. 

As the lap finished, my calves started to cramp. I tried to keep pushing but my legs nearly buckled underneath me. I got to our support team and begged for salt - everyone was looking at me like I was mad as I licked salt off my hand. It seemed to help and lap number 12 (Lucy) commenced. 

On lap 13, 9-year old Jessika wow'd everyone. I had expected that, as most children would, Jess would sprint off for the first 1000 metres, completely underestimating the length of the course! Instead, Jess put everyone to shame, pacing herself perfectly, waving at her parents and sister as we crossed them at the quarter way mark, charging up 'Helga' hill and then making an incredible sprint-finish!

My housemates joined me for laps 14, 15 and 16. All of these laps were run/walks due to how shockingly tired I'd become but Flora, Ed and Will motivated and supported me to the end. Crossing the 'finish line' for the 16th time with Will and Brian was a big moment. Hearing Jack say 'ONE MORE LAP TO GO' sent shivers through me (a nice change from the nausea). 

Meg, Mark, Ali and Paris joined us for the last lap, the video footage of Meg trying to have a conversation with me is laughable. By this point I was in a complete state of shock and just wanted to get to the finish line. We were able to make a slight short cut on the lap as the course is closer to 27.5 miles than the required 26.2 Thankfully, this meant the EVIL hill was missed out. My legs were overwhelmingly thankful.

As the bridge came in to sight, everyone rushed to the side of the track to cheer us through a make-shift finish line. The team pushed me forwards so I could cross first. Running in to something that didn't break was quite amusing but as I touched the ribbon, and knew number one was over, I was flooded with so many emotions.

RELIEF - I DID IT. 
APPRECIATION - I am ABLE to run a marathon, I have AMAZING family and friends. I have my health. I also have a very supportive boss in Brian. 
HAPPINESS - Who wouldn't be happy? 
And strangely, SADNESS - the first part of the journey is over. Although it has only just begun, I know this year will fly past and I never want it to end. 

I want to cherish every moment of this incredible challenge. It is so incredible to have the opportunity to do something like this, and whilst arguably, I've made the opportunity for myself, I wouldn't be able to do it if the people who support me weren't there. My mum, sister, 'Team Bexx' and the Team Run 12 runners keep me mentally strong. 

I love you all, every step was for you x.

The AMAZING guest runners - I'm really sorry if I haven't mentioned you properly above. This has become a bit of an essay... I can't thank you all enough for being part of such an amazing day and really hope you enjoyed it as much as we did x

The incredible crowd support. It was FREEZING cold yet you all stood outside for hours to support me for a few minutes every quarter of an hour. Whilst doing so, you raised over £100 with the raffle we held. Love to you all x

Finally, Brian. As mentioned in the video above, you were incredible. I don't know if I'd have got around without you. Thank you for pushing me, and sharing this journey with me. x