Doncaster man sheds whopping eight stones to run four hour marathon

Jordan Madison, who tipped the scales at more than 22 stones just a couple of years ago, has transformed his life and completed this year’s Manchester Marathon in a time of 4.07.03.

He ditched takeaways and lazing around and his latest success comes after clinching second place in last year’s Race For Life in Doncaster – and had challenged himself to run a marathon before his next birthday.

He has tackled a string of personal problems and has lost eight stones, now weighing just over 14 stones.

Jordan said: "I just let all the worst of my habits takeover – excessive drinking, constant takeaways, laziness, gambling and playing the Xbox all day.

He said the turning point came when he could no longer fit into clothes he’d ordered.

He said: "I ordered some XXL football shirts online and these things just absolutely did not come close to fitting me, so I weighed myself and I saw 303.9lbs (21.7 st) on the scale.

“I was shocked, in my head I knew 304lbs was how much they said wrestler Hulk Hogan weighed back in the day, but he was 6ft 8in and jacked - I was 5ft 8in and not jacked.”

Jordan, who now lives in South Elmsall, decided enough was enough and he decided to tackle his weight demons.

He said: “I made a conscious effort to start losing weight.

"I finished a book called Can’t Hurt Me by a Navy Seal David Goggins that inspired me to really address all my problems and change my life, stop feeling sorry for myself and really become obsessed with being better.”

His first success came in the Race for Life on Town Fields last autumn and since then he has run 500km on the road including four half marathons and an 18 mile run.

He said: “The process has changed my whole mindset - I’m so much more confident in myself, I’ve put it out to the universe that I was gonna run a marathon before my next birthday and I also signed up to fight for ultra white collar boxing, so we’re keeping busy.”