Before Craig Vernon turned 50 a year ago, he had never run once - not even for the bus.
By his own admission, the dad-of-one, of Samphire Close, Witham, was often tired, grumpy and “a bit tubby”.
However since hitting the milestone birthday, Mr Vernon, who is now 51 and works at Carr’s Flour Mills in Maldon, decided to have a change of lifestyle, which has led to a new lease of life.
In a year, he has competed in 27 park runs, ran the Colchester half marathon and racked up at least 400 miles in training, raising hundreds of pounds for the British Heart Foundation and Help for Heroes in the process.
By leading a new active lifestyle, Mr Vernon has also lost two-and-a-half stone - dropping from weighing 14.5stone to a trim 12stone.
He said: “I had never run in my life and I was unfit."
See this week's Braintree Times for the full story.
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