How I Ran It Off Dan Woodgate lost an astonishing 13st
Dan Woodgate has lost more than 13st through running and a new diet
BEFORE
I was pretty inactive. I’d only do small bits of exercise occasionally. I was quite a big drinker, too, and my diet was rubbish: I’d eat fish and chips, pies and sausage rolls.
At my heaviest, I was 27st. I walked the Coast to Coast path and my weight came down to 23st, but it plateaued around there. I could still get up the stairs, but I was very unfit.
THE TURNAROUND
It really kicked off for me when
my dad died of cancer. That was in October 2016. It was a big shock to me and the trigger for me to do something about my lifestyle. My dad was 63 when he died.
I did the eulogy at his funeral and thought, ‘I don’t want my children doing that at my funeral any time soon.’ I joined Slimming World in April 2017, six months after my dad died.
I sent my wife and my sister to check it out first. They said, ‘You’ll like it; you’ll feel comfortable there.’ I think I lost 11lb in the first week. I was pretty much hooked from then on. I realised that I could do this. I heard people talking about
parkrun. In August 2017, I went along to give it a go. I fell in love with it instantly. Everybody was very welcoming. My wife and children came to support, too, and I got around the course in 41 minutes and 41 seconds. I was knackered when I finished, but I was also hooked. I still didn’t dare go out and run during the day. I was 20st at the time and felt body-conscious, so
I’d only run when it got dark. But parkrun was different – there were all different shapes and sizes. I’ve now run more than 100 parkruns – that’s how regular it’s become for me. I ran the Great North Run in September 2018. I loved it so much that, three weeks later, I ran another half marathon. I ran on behalf of
Slimming World at the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon, raising funds for Cancer Research. That ticked all the boxes for me.
I’m now teetotal. Running definitely prompted that decision. If you go out drinking on a Friday, you’re not getting up and doing parkrun as quickly as you’d like to on a Saturday. People who knew me four or five years ago would have thought this could never happen. I wouldn’t have believed it either, to be honest. It’s funny how it’s worked out.
THE FUTURE
I’m now down to 13st 10lb. My name on Instagram is ‘Half the Man Dan’. I’ve almost halved my body weight. Running has played a massive part in that. I’m running the Barcelona Marathon in March, Edinburgh in May and, hopefully, Berlin in September.
I’m looking to do ultras next year.
Hopefully, my story will inspire others to take up running. It’s been a real change of lifestyle for me – and it’s a change for the better.