A BUSY mum-of-four from Soham is celebrating completing the London Marathon and moving one step closer to her target of seven runs in a year in tribute to a friend’s child who died of meningitis.

Beth Green has pledged to run three full marathons and four half-marathons to raise money for Meningitis UK.

The total distance – 131 miles – will be dedicated to the memory of three-year-old Amelie Clipson-Smith who died of meningitis in 2008.

Amelie, whose mum Sally Clipson grew up with Beth, died within 12 hours of contracting meningitis.

The tot fell ill and was rushed to hospital in Bordeaux, France, where her family was living whilst dad Kevin Smith worked there as an aeronautical engineer.

Sadly, due to the speed the disease took hold, doctors were unable to save her. Her organs were donated and helped save three children’s lives.

The rapid nature of the disease is the driving force behind Beth’s mission to raise as much money as possible so other families are spared the trauma of losing a child.

The 36-year-old has already completed The Great Eastern Run, the Dublin Marathon and the Cambridge Half Marathon, building her strength up for the most famous of them all – the London Marathon which took place last weekend.

Despite hot weather conditions, Beth finished in four hours and 52 seconds, beating her last London Marathon time in 2008 by four seconds.

Beth said: “I found it really hard. Between 18 and 20 miles you hit a point where you really don’t know if you can do it and that’s when you have to really dig deep. It was also hot, which was a bit of a shock, and I think I was dehydrated.

“The crowd was amazing and I don’t think I would have finished if it wasn’t for their support.”

Beth had a lovely surprise when, at around 25 miles, she spotted Amelie’s parents, Sally and Kevin and their daughter Olivia cheering her on as she approached Big Ben.

Next up for Beth is the Edinburgh Marathon on May 26 before she takes part in the Great North Run on September 15 and the Birmingham Half Marathon on October 20.

Beth is on track to raise £1,500 but hopes to boost that by £500 to help Amelie’s parents achieve their fundraising target of £10,000.

To make a donation to Amelie’s tribute fund visit http://meningitisuk.tributefunds.com/fund/Amelie+Beatrix+Clipson-Smith/showFund