The worst thing anyone can say to Rebecca Ferry is: "You can't do that."
There is nothing that provokes one of Britain's most successful endurance athletes more than being told she shouldn't take on a challenge. "Everything I've done, people have said: 'Don't be so stupid. You'll never do it,'" she says. "I've used that as a catalyst to change. The more people say 'no', the more incentivised I am."
An accomplished equestrian as well as a Pilates instructor, former lawyer and mother of five, Rebecca has numerous achievements under her belt – including competing in the Marathon des Sables (a six-day ultramarathon through the Sahara Desert) and becoming the first woman in the UK to climb both Everest and K2 in one season.
She has run solo and unsupported across Nepal, skydives from helicopters and holds the British record for climbing the most peaks higher than 26,250ft in one year.
Having conquered the earth and air, her next element is water, as she prepares to row solo across the Atlantic and break the current 40-day, 19-hour record set in 2022. Her training has been going well. "I haven't suffered from seasickness, and I didn't drown," she jokes.
So what compels her to put herself in such life-threatening situations?
"It's an inquisitiveness and zest for life," she says. "When I started running, it had its challenges, but I persevered and liked that feeling of failing sometimes. And it's a message I'm trying to teach my kids – it's so easy to think: 'I can't do that.'
"There's something satisfying about knowing that you've given everything, even though there are moments when you think: 'I can't give or do any more.' It's not just about the sport; it's a metaphor for life."
As a keen equestrian who has her own horses, Rebecca has had brushes with royalty. The King's niece Zara Tindall has ridden one of her horses professionally – and Rebecca gave the royal a Shetland pony for her children to learn to ride.
"My children had a little black Shetland called Dermot and I wanted him to have the best life, so I gave him to Zara for her children. The cousins rode on him too. He's an incredible little pony; everybody loves Dermot. He's adored, and rightly so."
An ambassador for the charity Women in Sport, she is full of admiration for the royal equestrian.
"She's an incredible, accomplished athlete. As a mum of three young children, she's balancing her life and her world, and achieving at a really high level in a sport that is dominated by men. She is a trailblazer in many ways.
"My experience in sport is the same as some female riders who have children. It's like: 'Hmm, how can you be riding a horse when you have kids?' because it's a risky sport as well. There are a lot of similarities from that perspective."
To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
