Opinion: Marathon challenge to lift fitness

James Ford.

It's time to turnover a new leaf.

While staring down the barrel of an empty beer bottle and shooting the breeze with my brother on my birthday weekend I made a decision. A decision that will hopefully change my life for the better.

I vowed to him and my fiancee, two people who will certainly hold me accountable, that I will enter the Hawke's Bay half-marathon in May. They were both supportive, as you would expect.

My brother, who has previously run the Auckland marathon but had lapses in his own fitness, quickly announced that he would join me.

To look at me now you would assume it was my mouth writing cheques my body couldn't possibly cash. Someone panicking after turning 30. And that observation would be correct.

Since arriving in New Zealand in 2010 my weight has gone up while my fitness has gone down.

From playing sport on a regular basis in the UK to embracing the sofa far more often than pounding the pavement. I am the heaviest and most unfit I have ever been - by quite a distance. And that's why I made the call.

Sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves. Whether it be having one too many beers, or hopping in the car to run an errand that we could easily walk.

It's the trying that counts. The intention to make a change that will have a positive domino effect on life.

Sure, I will be forced to walk at some point and without doubt finish at the tail end of the pack. But it still will have been worthwhile.

I'm sure there are plenty out there in the same boat, maybe you could join me.
Here's to a challenging six months.