A 24-year-old novice marathon runner has taken to TikTok to help encourage other runners and raise awareness of the charity she is supporting.

Luisa Nicks, who is taking on the TCS London Marathon in April, decided to share her experiences of training for her first marathon by posting videos of her runs along and weekly updates on how she’s getting on.

‘I decided to document my journey on TikTok so that I can motivate other marathon runners, remember my journey, and also to spread awareness for the charity,’ Luisa explained. Luisa is running the marathon for Newton Abbot charity Life Chance Trust, which helps young people to succeed after experiencing trauma through mentoring and life skills workshops.

The feedback to the videos has been hugely positive with fellow runners getting in touch to say her videos have motivated them. The posts have also prompted followers to reach out to Life Chance Trust too. Which, Luisa adds, ‘is my main goal’.

As well as posting on her TikTok account, @luisa_nicks, she posts to family and friends on Facebook.

Training through this year’s particularly wet and windy winter has not been easy. ‘The storms I must say haven’t helped one bit and I have found myself feeling like I am running in the same space and hardly moving at times,’ Luisa said. ‘Last week I had one of the waves at Teignmouth Promenade parkrun soak me right through! When I got home, I created a puddle on the floor from how wet I got.’

Her hectic work schedule means many of her videos are filmed in the dark. And, as a territory accounts manager, she is often away at trade shows and having to find new routes.

Despite the challenges, she remains motivated to achieve her lifelong dream of running the London Marathon. Although she enjoyed sports and cross country as a child, Luisa lost her passion for running when she left school until some friends encouraged her to attend parkrun a couple of years ago. After that, Luisa was encouraged to sign up to a 10km race and then a couple of half marathons.

Last year, she entered three races for Life Chance Trust. So, when she saw the opportunity was available to run the London Marathon for them, she ‘wanted to grab it with both hands’ and put herself forward.

‘I am honoured to say that I am raising money on behalf of Life Chance Trust. I have seen the good it brings to young adults,’ Luisa explained. ‘I know close friends that would have loved to have had a charity like them when they were younger. Not only do they focus on childhood trauma they also focus on mental health and being within the age bracket of those young adults I can understand why mental health can be such a challenge today,’ she added.

Luisa is hoping to raise £3000 for Life Chance Trust. As well as generating sponsorship through her JustGiving page https://localgiving.org/fundraising/Luisas-Londonmarathon, she is organising an online raffle and a sweepstake to guess her finishing time. She also has a collection pot in her father’s shop, the Shoe Centre, in Dawlish.