See below for my race by race update!

Imagine a life without Alzheimer’s (the most common form of dementia). Where your mother, father, loved ones, or you don’t have to worry who will be next.

After all, every 68 seconds someone is diagnosed with this horrible illness and right now more than 44.4 million people worldwide are suffering with it.

This number is expected to sky-rocket with the aging of the baby-boomers, if a prevention strategy is not found. It is expected that the number will increase to an estimated 75.6 million in 2030, and 135.5 million in 2050.

I would like to make a difference that is why I am planning to complete the biggest challenge of my life - run 12 half marathons for Alzheimer's Society.

Alzheimer’s Society is a United Kingdom care and research charity for people with dementia and their carers.  Alzheimer’s Society works to improve the quality of life of people affected by dementia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In terms of my challenge, I'm attempting to run one half marathon each month during 2014. I did a research and in a true project management style come up with the schedule of action:

Jan - n/a

Feb - Watford Harriers Half Marathon 2014, 2 February 2014 - Done 2:20 (See below for highlights)

Mar - Longleet Half Marathon 2014, 16 March 2014 - Done 2:18 (See below for highlights)

Apr - Offa's 'Orror 2014, 13 April 2014 - Done 2:29 (See below for highlights)

May - Leeds Half Marathon 2014, 11 May 2014 - Done 2:16 (See below for highlights)

Jun - St Albans Half Marathon 2014, 8 June 2014 - Done 2:21 (See below for Highlights)

Jul - Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2014, 6th July 2014 - Done 2:16 (See below for Highlights)

Aug - Severn Bridge Half Marathon 2014, 24 August 2014 - Done 2:13 (See below for Highlights)

Oct - Cardiff Half Marathon 2014, 5 October 2014 - Done 2:07 

Oct - Henley Half Marathon 2014, 12 October 2014 - Done 2:02

Oct - Leicester Half Marathon 2014, 26 October 2014 - Done 2:04

Nov - Shakespeare Half Marathon 2014, 15 November 2014 - Done 1:58

Nov - Wiltshire Half Marathon 2014, 30 November 2014 - Done 2:03

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Update 30/11/2014

Whoop whoop, I've done it! Can't even believe it. I have enjoyed myself for 2 hours and 3 minutes of unforgettable experience and have completed my 12th and the final half marathon this year. All in all, here are some stats for you: 12 half marathons in 2014, covering157 miles or 253 km distance.

What a brilliant way to finish the challenge. It was very foggy and misty morning. Very small crowd of experienced runners. People were extremely friendly, looking after each other, supporting each other and warning if the car is coming up. The stewards were just amazing. All cheering and clapping. Some of them were checking our race numbers against their list and shouting our names with messages of encouragement. Each of the 4 water station was welcoming us not just with water and happy stewards but also a massive tray with jelly babies. If I would not stand at each station eating jelly babies and having a chat with stewards I might have done my PB but then again I would not have such an incredible memories if I would rush through the experience.

All in all, I nominate the Wiltshire Half Marathon as the friendliest event out of 12 I've done this year. Here are my other nominations:

- Offa's Orror in Wales - the toughest half marathon, a lot of injuries and people with broken bones on the way sliding down the steep hills on the mud, at the end a massive reward of delicious cakes

- Severn Bridge - amazing experience of running from Wales to England, very  inspirational. Also, nine members of my family and a dog came to support me, so it was very memorable

- Leeds - just nostalgic as I spent many years in Yorkshire living in York, Leeds and Wakefield. Nice to go back to places that mean a lot to you. Also my friend from school I know since I was 6 came to support me.

- Henley - stunning country side, meaningful place (I did my MBA there sometimes ago), a friend came to support me and we had the most amazing lunch afterwards

- Shakespeare - really didn't like this one. This is the one helped me to achieve my PB (less then two hours). It was very painful experience where I thought I'd die.

- Cardiff - this is the most memorable experience. Massive crowd of runners and supporters. Charity groups came around to the streets and provided their support. This is where I seen a group of elderly people sitting in their blankets near care home which made it so meaningful to me.

This leads me nicely to the main purpose of the challenge. I put myself through all this for a good cause, for a charity, in support of the Alzheimer's Society. This is very meaningful charity organisation to me not only because I was working for Social care and housing organisation that was looking after the elderly people sometimes ago. Also, sadly, I just lost my grandma to this horrible disease. We just had to observe how she was slowly losing her memory, was unable to recognise close family members and friends, was getting confused and slowly deteriated to complete withdrawal losing all basic bodily functions until a complete end. This is the worst way to end the life and I'm hoping that all the effort I put into this challenge and all your generous donations will make a difference so none of us would ever experience this disease.

Thank you all guys for all your support. This year and the challenge I set really meant a lot to me. I hope you also feel good as you have made a difference. Thank you all for your kind messages, I'm planning to create a book to keep them as my memory of this unforgettable and extremely rewarding experience :)

There is one more person I need to thank, that is my husband Matt, who was taking me to every event without a failure, taking me back home completely out of all energy and who had succeeded and had 12 bacon sandwiches while I've been running around enjoying myself.

You will be pleased to know, this is my last message on the subject. I will have a think of a new challenge for the next year. Any suggestions are welcomed but it needs to be slightly mad.

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Update 15/11/2014

Wow, this one was incredibly hard. Very miserable experience, extremely repetitive, running four times around the old dilapidated runway, people are looking bored, nobody is supporting anyone. This is the time I was trying to do my personal best and do two hours or under. OMG, I've done it and competed half marathon within 1 hour, 58 minutes and 45 seconds with just 1 minute and 15 seconds spare. I thought I'm going to die. It was complete darkness in my eyes when I was rushing thought the last mile. Never again. I think I will just enjoy myself during the next and final half marathon

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Update 26/10/2014

It is quite unbelievable but my NY resolution is still going strong. I have managed to reach my 10th half marathon and even completed it. I’m very pleased with my results and even secretly started to enjoy the challenge. Finally I’m reaching the point when I’m not just torturing myself throughout the experience but love every minute of it – there is a light that never goes out.

In terms of the final timing, unfortunately I didn’t manage to make any further improvements, my time was 2 hours 4 minutes. Maybe that is because I spent all week doing arms and back exercises, which is the wrong strategy to adopt. Also, I decided that it would beneficial to wear a watch. For the 10th time I’m just running wondering about the time. This might be a reason why I cannot actually improve my time. Two more attempts to do it!

As per usual, just wanted to say a massive thank you for your ongoing support.  This actually make worthwhile the effort and that’s what I’m thinking about when I’m putting myself through all of these

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Update 12/10/2014

I have a slight backlog of half marathons to complete this year, so I did my second one in October (there is one more to come in October to catch up with my ‘roll out’ plan).

This time I went to Henley where I was running along other 2,500 participants. By the look of it, this was the 32nd time Henley was organising this. I was very excited about this one, as I studied at Henley Management College sometimes ago and it’s always great to go back.

All in all I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t think I do well and even ‘slightly’ gave up 100 metres before the finish. I decided to have a short walk, so I can sprint past the crowd just before the finish. This was a massive mistake to make as I arrived at 2:02. This was my personal best but I was 2 minutes too late to my ultimate goal. Extremely disappointing.

On a positive note, my friend and dear colleague from M&S Sophie came to support me. Possibly the promise of amazing English pub food and a great company with a friend made me run extra quickly.

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Update 05/10/2014

Hurrah, my 8th marathon is over! This time it was in Cardiff (Wales). The route was promising, very flat and fast course. Thousands and thousands of people participated in this event, 21,000 to be precise. Apparently this was the second largest half marathon in UK (after the Great North Run).

 The atmosphere was electric, it was ace. It was very touching to observe all those people who are struggling through the pain for an amazing case. A lot of people were running for Charity – Cancer Research, Samaritans, Marie Curie, a lots of others and of course the Alzheimer’s Society. It was especially overwhelming when I saw a group of elderly people sitting in their wheelchairs covered in blankets near their retirement home. They were very happy, smiling and chairing to the crowd. At that moment it made my cause especially pertinent and this touched me to tears.

 All in all, it was a fantastic experience to remember for the rest of my life. Here are some stats to give you an overview of the day:       

-            844,960,000 estimated number of steps taken by all runners

-            276,745 miles were covered by the runners

-            93,000 bottles of water were out on the course

-            15,000 bananas were given out to runners at the finish (Interestingly, there were 21,000 runners, so not everyone got their banana. I was quick enough to get mine J )

-            600+ volunteers, students, clubs and charity groups helped at the event

-            370kg of clothing left at last year’s start line was donated to charity

-            200 traffic management officers from Cardiff Council were on the course

-            55% of the runners who entered were male

I’ve achieved my personal best at 2 hours 7 minutes, this is 6 minutes improvement to my previous best time

To achieve the point above, I’ve done 3 spinning classes as my training and preparation, that is 2 minutes improvement for each class

I have managed to beat my father’s in law life achievement and the personal best on his 70th Birthday (Sorry John, Happy Birthday J )

 As always, a MASSIVE thank you to everyone for your ongoing support and donations to amazing cause and charity Alzheimer’s Society.

 As always, a MASSIVE thank you to everyone for your ongoing support and donations to amazing cause and charity Alzheimer’s Society.

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Update 24/08/2014

Hurrah, I've beat my personal best for 3 minutes. My time for my 7th half marathon is 2 hours and 13 minutes. So pleased with myself. The run from Wales to England and back through the Severn Bridge was inspirational. The best route so far. Only 5 left to do to end my challenge :) thank you all for your help and support. 

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Update 06/07/2014

Good news: I have managed to succeed and complete my 6th Half Marathon this year. Some more good news: I have managed to improve my personal best for 40 seconds :) The bad news: I have been beaten by the camel who passed me on my second mile :) An image is attached. To recover from the humiliation as per point above, I went for 12 miles walk after my 13 miles run.

Thank you all for your help and support in this :)

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Update 08/06/14

My 5th half marathon from hell, the hell of a very hot sun and +30 temperature! It was extremely well organised event, plenty water and the stuards everywhere. A lot of ambulances driving up and down collecting my fellow runners, a lot of people collapsed in front of my eyes. 

All in all I was amazed I finished this one and even matched my usual time (2h:21min). As the most amazing reward I have received an ice lolly from the event organisers. The best thing even after excise in sauna experience. 

A couple of days of headaches after the sun stroke and I have fully recovered. I'm ready for the next one! 

As always, thank you all for your kind messages and support. 

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Update 11/05/14

Woo hoo, 1/3 of my challenge done! Just completed Leeds half marathon and achieved my personal best at 2:16! So pleased about that.

Leeds run was great and meaningful to me. I used to live in the city for a while. Route was easy enough. The crowd was amazing. It felt that half of the city arrived to support us. Kids were giving food away - sweets, biscuits, oranges, pineapple slices. Should have listened to my mum when she was telling not to take food from strangers, I choked on the pineapple.

In terms of the training, I did not run prior to this marathon at all. However, inspired by the recent events of the Connect project, I have succeeded to achieve another challenge that I was unsuccessfully attempting many times before. My husband and I decided to walk around Guernsey in one day, 40 miles later I have managed to succeed. I lost my husband on 24th mile, unfortunately he could not survive any further and had to grab an emergency taxi for recovery at hotel. However I decided to continue no matter what and managed to achieve my target 13 hours later way after dark. That was a very painful arrangement and my legs were hurting for a week afterwards. Hey ho, any price is a good price for success and achievement of the end result.

On this note just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who supported me so far through this ridiculous New Year resolution. Your support means a lot to me and your donations will make a massive difference to my Charity. Thank you all.

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Update 13/04/14

Whoop whoop, I'm quarter of the way there! I really can't believe that it's still 9 to go! It feels I've been doing this for years.

 Anyway, Offa's 'Orror, what a challenge! Lesson learnt of the day - never pick Wales, way too many hills. Unfortunately I have four more half marathons to go in Wales :(

 The route was the killer - hills, mud, extremely uneven off road path. Managed to fall down into the nettle bush... ouch, still hurts a lot. The event was well organised and had a real community /family feel.

 Despite the fact my time has worsened (due to extreme route) I felt much better today. That must be due to my extensive training that I've completed this time as my prep. I went for a practice three times (1x8miles, 1x10, 1x13) and I have concluded that training does help :)

 I started to enjoy my challenge. Maybe that is because I had an amazing cake waiting for me at the end. Or maybe because I had overwhelming support group cheering me up throughout - 9 fun crazy people with banners 'Go Yana' and a dog :) 

 Just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you to all you guys for your donations and support. This really will make a difference to my charity and to me :)

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 Update 16/03/14

Early start - 4am, bath, oils, face mask, hair, makeup all set to go for my second half marathon. Based on my lessons learnt last time I had a lot of food - night before, in the morning and a lot of bananas for the journey and before the start. Maybe a bit too much food this time as I felt sick from the start :( I don't even know why I opted in for bananas, I hate the fruit and never eat them.

The location was amazing, probably the best I'll do during my 12 half marathons. However the experience wasn't great - the start was bad, the middle was agony, the end was like out of the nightmare. I had only one thought on my mind - why on Earth I didn't train!!?!?! 

I'm now recovering from this ordeal and thinking through my training plan. 

 Thank you a lot for your ongoing support and sponsorship. It really means a lot to me. 

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 Update 2/2/14

Oh my God, what was that all about? Why on Earth I decided to torture myself with 12 half marathons ??!?

On a positive note, the weather was great, I would even say perfect conditions. I even had fit for purpose clothing arrangements this time including a pair of new trainers. However, that is where the positive side ends....

At the start w were been told that Watford half marathon is the most challenging route in Britain. It didn't motivate me somehow. The organisers kept their promises - there were a lot of steep hills. On top of that the path was flooded in three places. With all my attempts to run around that hazard of mud and water mixture, I didn't succeed. In the end I was in dirty water almost up to my knees - not my level of standard.

Anyway, things got really bad on my 11th mile. I completely ran out of energy. Maybe that's because of crazy working hours I've done for the past two weeks or because I didn't have a dinner the night before. I was struggling big time and all I could think about was food. I also run out of water :( I got to the point that I contacted an ambulance guy. He didn't have anything on him to help me and instead he suggested to keep going. Lesson learnt - next time I'll have a dinner and will bring some energy bars.

All in all, purely thinking about the cause I'm running for and thinking about people who believe in me and supported my charity, it got me through. I just couldn't let you down. Thank you all for your support.

 My time surprisingly matching my penguin half marathon stunt I did last year - 2 hours 20 minutes of hell. Once again, no training was done whatsoever prior to this event. Maybe that would be a good idea for the next time.

 

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