Running News Daily

Brit Darren McClintock Loses 266lbs, then Runs Half Marathon With His Trainer

A morbidly obese fast food addict who was given a “diet or die” ultimatum from his doctors not only lost 266 pounds, he also completed a half marathon with his personal trainer.

Twenty-eight-year-old Brit Darren McClintock, nicknamed “Dibsy,” weighed 560 pounds (approx. 254 kg) in 2018. Doctors warned Dibsy that his junk food habit may very well send him to an early grave, and the shocking revelation spurred the young man into action.

Personal trainer Mike Hind, notorious for his practice of taking on one pro bono client every year, noticed Dibsy and his mom outside his healthy diner one day and offered the overweight man his assistance. It was the boost Dibsy needed to get started on his formidable weight loss journey.

Hind, a married father of three, had an ingenious idea. He planted posters around Dibsy’s hometown of Middlesbrough, England, urging fast-food vendors not to serve his client.

“Save Dibsy,” the poster read. “Obesity is killing him. Do not serve this man.”

Dibsy had succumbed to comfort eating after losing his father at the age of 18. Unemployed and unable to find clothes that fit, Dibsy was debilitated by his excess weight. According to The Sun, he even spent his nights sleeping on the sofa, unable to climb the stairs to bed.

Dibsy pledged to give up his vices: fast food, fizzy drinks, and alcohol. He pledged to reduce his staggering 11,000 daily calorie consumption, and Hind helped his overweight friend to design the perfect, tailor-made exercise regime.

According to the United Kingdom’s government statistics, 29 percent of adults in the United Kingdom were classified as obese in 2018. In the United States, this figure was 39.8 percent for the last recorded year (2016), as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hind provided Dibsy with the expert advice and moral support he needed to thrive on his new regime. With hard work, determination, and gargantuan willpower, Dibsy started to see impressive results.

Ten months after his weight loss journey began, Dibsy had lost almost half his original body weight. In celebration of his progress, Dibsy completed the Great North Run in Newcastle, England, on Sept. 8, 2019.

“I’m under no illusions that it will be a hard, long day,” Dibsy told ITV ahead of the run, incidentally the world’s biggest half marathon. “But my heart won’t give up, and I’m in a good position now to do it.”

As good as his word, Dibsy finished the race in a triumphant 2 hours and 43 minutes.

The runner spoke to Teeside Live after crossing the finish line. “I didn’t realize how much support there would be, people shouting along the way, it was unbelievable,” Dibsy said.

“It’s an amazing feeling afterwards, knowing you have done it,” the young runner continued. “I found it hard but the sense of achievement is unbelievable.” Dibsy hopes to achieve an even better finishing time in 2020.