Tullichewan jogger hailed as achiever of the year

Nov 28 2008 by Amanda McKendrick, Lennox Herald (main ed)

DAVID Whyte has lost eight stone in flab and become fighting fit since joining jogscotland – and attention from the ladies is just an added bonus.

At the weekend, 15 months after David first pulled on his running shoes, he was named jogscotland’s achiever of the year at a glitzy awards bash in Glasgow.

The 29-year-old from Tullichewan was nominated by Ian Crawford, of West Dunbartonshire Sports Development, and chosen from over 14,000 members to win the title.

Up until a year ago David weighed 24 stone and, despite trying various ways of shedding the pounds, he could never stick at it long enough to sustain weight loss.

By chance David’s boss at the Citizens Advice Bureau, Joe McCormack, was a jogleader at the first ever men-only jogging group in West Dunbartonshire.

David said: “My boss Joe kept niggling away at me about the jogscotland group. Eventually, last September, I agreed to give it a shot, although the last time I did any regular exercise was at school.

“I remember the rush of endorphins on the first night. I felt really good because I had done something.

“After the first month, I started to see the weight coming off. I was losing a couple of pounds a week just through jogging.

“At first it was just two minutes jogging and two minutes walking and you build it up. After a couple of weeks at the Monday night group, I started going to the Thursday night group as well and then started going out myself on a Saturday.

“I began to run longer distances and even joined the gym.”

David progressed to running his first road race and, along with Joe, completed the Buchlyvie 10k in one hour and 11 minutes and followed this by taking part in the Great Scottish Run, which he conquered in two hours and 10 minutes.

He said: “I could never have imagined that I’d be in this position a year ago, having lost all the weight and competed my first 10K and half-marathon.

“My life has changed. I’m more confident and have higher self-esteem. I’m even getting attention from the ladies now which is a new thing for me.”

David is now planning to train as a jogleader and pass on his experiences to others in West Dunbartonshire.

Ian added: “David’s transformation since joining jogscotland has been nothing short of amazing. A year after joining the first ever men’s only jogging group in West Dunbartonshire, David has shed eight stones and has completed his first ever 10K and half marathon.

“This feat is even more impressive when you consider that of the thousand or so members that have joined jogscotland in West Dunbartonshire since 2002 only around 30 of them have been men. Men on a whole in West Dunbartonshire have been reluctant to take up jogging, but I believe that David’s story can change that.”