'I lost six stone so I could run to save lives'

Stuart Crichton from the London Ambulance Service (LAS) always dreamt of running the London Marathon.

When he applied in 2016, and was given a place, he began training. But his weight soon became an issue.

"I had to pull out because I just couldn't do it," he said.

"I was a lot heavier then, I was six stone heavier. Running was really hard and I just couldn't get over the 5k mark."

Now after years of pure determination, he's lost weight, trained hard and is finally ready to take on his biggest challenge ever - the London Marathon 2026.

Stuart has been documenting his progress online, and has shared his training journey with his followers.

The videos show how he has used his Northern Line commute as a training route, adding an additional stop at a time to increase the distance.

"It's been tough but it's been it's been really good fun and there's a real sense of achievement," he said.

"My longest run from High Barnet to Morden was a massive moment for me."

Stuart told the BBC that the weight loss had "really, really helped" and said it had taken "a massive lifestyle change" to get to this point.

But what is Stuart's motivation? Well, saving lives.

He's running for the London Ambulance Service charity which not only supports LAS staff, it provides CPR training to the public and aims to increase the number of defibrillators across the capital.

Stuart said: "The charity works across London to make sure that we make defibrillators as prevalent as fire extinguishers in the capital, as they really do save lives."

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