In 1985, 102 British male runners ran under the elite time of 2 hours 20 minutes for the marathon. Only 5 managed this same feat 20 years later. Alex - 16 stone, obese, heavy drinking - goes on a journey to find out firsthand what it takes to become an international marathon runner, and to explain the decline of British male marathon running. He writes:

"I've had a stammer for almost all of my life, and have often found that it's held me back from lots of things. I used to dread phone calls and other awkward situations. I found it incredibly frustrating that I knew what I wanted to say but often could not get it out. 

"I realised that if I carried on like this, the rest of my life would pass me by and I would never really reach my potential, just because of the way that I sometimes spoke. Producing my first major documentary was always going to be a tall order. With my stammer, a documentary that I was going to present myself was an even bigger challenge. However, I found that when I talked to camera I would rarely stammer, and doing a voice over on your own was not a problem. 

"The documentary will be shown on Channel 4 in December. The experience gave me so much confidence and it showed me what was achievable. It's even given me the confidence to start doing motivational speaking related to the documentary. The funny thing is that on stage I tend not to stammer - I do still stammer a bit on certain words but I've learnt to control it. I've also learnt that the stammer should never hold you back from what you want to achieve in your life."

The documentary, 'Running to the limits', was screened on Channel 4 on 15th December. Channel 4 are also due to re-show it at 7:45am on Sunday 31st January.

www.alexvero.co.uk