MICHAEL Steer’s lifelong dream of running a marathon after losing more than half his body weight in under three years came true on Sunday - but it’s not going to be the end of his running journey.
The 40-year-old from Wombwell admits that he’s struggled with his weight for all of his adult life - and at the age of 13 he already weighed over 20 stones.
He’d tried to lose the weight before but in 2022 decided to give it another go - and it’s certainly paid off.
Michael used technology to help track his calories and began running after a year - and it’s something that really changed his life.
After completing 5K and 10K runs, he said it was always a dream of his to complete a marathon.
He started training and trying to raise money for Barnsley Hospice and on Sunday he completed the Yorkshire Marathon in just over five hours.
He told the Chronicle: “I believe I came in at five hours, 21 minutes but I really wanted to come in under five hours.
“I did the first half in about two hours and ten minutes so at that pace I’d have finished in a really good time.
“But at about 30K I was really struggling.
“I had to think about it because I was genuinely worried that if I didn’t slow down and take it a lot more sensibly, I might not finish.
“Particularly when you’re raising money for charity you don’t want to risk not finishing when people have sponsored you.
“I decided to be more sensible going forward.”
And despite the disappointment about the time, Michael is rightly proud of his efforts and has raised around £800 for Barnsley Hospice.
He added: “I was delighted when I finished.
“I think it’s good that I’ve raised around £800 for the hospice.
“I’m really proud of that - it should really help them.”
Michael is hoping that others will see the journey that he’s been on and be inspired to do the same - and he says that if he’s able to do it, anyone can.
“In terms of losing weight I tried for years and years before it stuck,” he added.
“To finally sort of crack it was great.
“If I can get on top of it anybody has a chance of getting on top of it.
“It’s lovely when you bump into people that I’ve not seen for a few years.
“I frequently have to walk up to people and say hello to them because from a distance they will not recognise me.
“They won’t know who I am.
“It takes them a few seconds to even realise.”
Just because Michael’s mission of completing a marathon has been realised, he said he won’t be stopping running any time soon.
And he’s not got much time to rest before his next challenge.
He said: “I’m doing a 10K next month.
“The problem with the marathon really is I have some issues with my stomach, so I find it quite difficult to fuel.
“So for the next couple of years, I think I will focus on doing 10K, which is my preferred distance, and I might do an occasional half.
“And it might be the case that in, four or five years, if I’m still running and I feel like I’ve developed and become a better runner, and I think I could maybe have a go at doing it in a really good time, I could maybe be tempted to have another go, but it won’t be any time soon.”
