“I don’t think I will be able to wear shorts and a vest,” says Whitton’s Forrest Gump Nick Twomey as he contemplates running a marathon in temperatures of minus 10C.

“It could be a bit of a challenge.”

The 22-year-old sets off into the unknown at the weekend as he bids to become the youngest man to run a marathon on every continent - including frozen Antarctica.

The former Loughborough University sports science student will tackle 12 marathons in all as he begins a £17,000 self-funded eight-month odyssey in a bid to raise £5,000 for charity.

He will have eight races under his belt - double the number of times he has completed the 26.2mile distance in his lifetime - by the time he reaches the outer fringes of the south pole.

A three-day boat trip, starting from Argentina, with a group of fellow athletes will see him compete at the most unusual venue on the trip, which also takes in a Russian and American military bases on route.

He has been training six-times a week in preparation for the whole trip, but admits nothing can prepare him for the task of running where some penguins fear to tread.

“I really don’t know what to expect, but I know at that time of year the temperature there will be about -10C with the wind chill,” he said.

“The only thing I can do is to train at night in the weeks leading up to it or very early in the morning to get somewhere near the conditions. I don’t think time is going to be a consideration really.

“I’m running in Chile a few days later, so it is going to be difficult to go from one extreme to another.”

Twomey was persuaded to take up the challenge by a friend and has decided to combine it with a round-the-world trip before heading out into the real world after life as a student.

He has only run four marathons before - his first was in Stratford-upon-Avon - and is hoping to have smashed the three hour barrier by the time he finishes at his challenge’s spiritual home.

“My best time is three hours 20 minutes at the moment and I hope I’ll be running underneath that by the New Year,” he added.

“Some of them are so close together though, I think it will just be a case of getting round.”

The former London Oratory School student almost saw his challenge of a lifetime wrecked eight weeks ago, when a training run ankle injury almost required surgery.

And his record bid would have been scuppered further had he not brought the trip forward to make sure he beat the current mark of 23 years and 339 days.

“There is someone waiting to have a record attempt of 22 years and 11 months ratified from earlier this, so I had to bring the trip forward to make sure I beat that,” he said.

“It was touch and go whether I would be fit to start the first one in Berlin. I couldn’t walk for three weeks after turning my ankle.

“But I’ve worked hard with the physios and been using ice baths and massage to get me back on my feet. I’m videoing the whole thing so there is no chance of the record not being rubber-stamped.”

Nick is raising money for Watoto Child Care Ministries in Uganda and the Rwandan genocide Survivors Fund. Anyone who would like to support him can visit justgiving.com/nick2mee.

Nick's punishing 314 mile schedule: Sept 28 - Berlin, Oct 12 - Chicago, Oct 26 - Niagara Falls, Nov 30 - Seattle, Dec 14 - Honolulu, Dec 21 - Dec 30 - Home, Jan 4 - Hobart (Tasmania), Jan 25 - Marrakech (Morocco), Feb 8 - Hong Kong, Mar 10 - Antarctica, Mar 22 - Santiago (Chile), May 16 - Great Wall of China, April ? - Stratford upon Avon (TBC).