begin running

This is a truly inspirational story of a British runner weighing 16 stone (224 pounds), who decided to train for the marathon at the Beijing Olympics! Alex Vero originally started running to lose weight and found that he enjoyed it.

He describes himself as a “heavy-drinking, asthmatic, smoking slob” in the beginning and embarked on an amazing training program in order to reach his goal. While he has decided not to go as far as Beijing, his story is still compelling.

Alex’s journey includes entries in the London Marathon and even the Marathon des Sable. However his story is also one of battles with injuries such as shin splints, muscle tears in the hip and even spinal surgery. It is also an example of just what an overweight runner can achieve.

He is making a documentary as part of the project which also aims to compare the amazing success of Ethiopian and Kenyan marathon runners with the decline of British runners. Having seen a Sunday morning road race in the dust, fumes and traffic of Addis Ababa, I’m particularly interested in this aspect of the project. Judging by the pilot, the film will be well worth watching.