Rollercoaster Journey sees Mike Transformed from 24-Stone Heavy Smoker to Multiple Marathon Runner

In 2013, Mike Tubb was a busy site manager, building rollercoasters all over the UK, but with a lifestyle that was equally turbulent. Mike weighed in at 24-stone, smoked 40 cigarettes per day and relaxed in the evening with a drink – completing a marathon or anything close to a marathon seemed like a distant dream.

It was a chance discussion with a structural engineer at work who was training for an Ironman that piqued Mike’s interest. He was in complete awe and quickly looked into the training that was required. A few weeks later, Mike signed up for a sprint triathlon and gave himself just six weeks to train for it. That evening he smoked his last cigarette, and the training began.

Mike completed the sprint triathlon and loved it! In the after-event buzz, Mike applied and was accepted for a charity place with Clic Sargent, now known as Young Lives vs Cancer, in the 2014 London Marathon.

“I promptly rang my engineer friend who gave me some very sound advice to download a training plan, look at nutrition and go for it with everything I had, but most importantly enjoy it,” said Mike. “I followed a 24-week beginners’ marathon plan religiously and began to eat as healthily as I possibly could. From the October to marathon day in April I lost a further six stone and felt unbelievable. I have been entering events ever since from that day, so that I always have an aim for training.”

To date, Mike has done 15 marathons, around 20 half marathons, three half Ironmans, one full Ironman, the Long Course Weekend Tenby, Ride London twice, Swim Serpentine twice, is the proud owner of the London

Classics Medal and has completed five out of the six World Marathon Majors, with just Boston left to complete the set and receive a Six Star Medal. And now Mike is set to take on his first Baxters Loch Ness Marathon – one that has been on his bucket list for some time.

“My ambitions for the future are to continue to run marathons as long as my body will allow, and I have Ironman Wales next September following cancellations due to Covid. But most importantly, I want to qualify for a Boston Marathon place and collect that Six Star Medal.”

Mike recognises that his journey has been a long but extremely worthwhile one.

He continues: “The first evening I went out for a mile run it took me nearly 20 minutes, but I just kept going and slowly but surely it started to get easier and more enjoyable. I want people to see that anything is possible if you want it enough and are prepared and disciplined enough to put the work in.

“I watched the London Marathon on TV every year and every year I said the same thing: I would love to do that one day, but never in my wildest dreams did I actually think I could, and certainly not run it four times…so far!”

“The best advice I could give to anyone is to enter an event but make sure you have enough time to train and build endurance to get you through. If you have done all the training and prepared as best as you possibly can, then it’s just a case of one foot in front of the other, and don’t stop until someone puts a medal around your neck. The buzz you get from the crowds, event staff, volunteers and fellow participants will keep you wanting more, believe me it’s seriously addictive.”

The 2021 Baxters Loch Ness Marathon will be Mike’s 16th marathon – good luck to him and all his fellow participants. Remember, just keep running until someone puts a medal around your neck!

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