A Kilmarnock bus driver ran a mammoth 600 miles and dropped a massive six stone while raising money for a charity close to his heart.
Stuart Burnett-Burt — who was born with a hole in the heart — never did much running before setting himself the painstaking task to run all of his routes.
Now Stuart, who was born with the ventricular septal defect, has raised £1,000 for the British Heart Foundation which has been match-funded by his employers at Stagecoach West Scotland; doubling the amount to £2,000.
Stuart said: "The best part of this experience has been hearing my fellow bus drivers and others say they are running, walking and eating a much healthier diet having seen the weight I’ve lost. Some have said, ‘if he can do then so can I’.
"Raising money is great but inspiring people to live and eat better is an amazing feeling.
"The worst part had to be spending £130 on a pair of running shoes which were worn out and needed replaced after only four months."
In a bid to lose weight, Stuart started exercising on his lunch break until one day a colleague jokingly suggested he should take his exercise a step further and run the bus routes he drives every day – he took it as a challenge and, in October last year, started his fundraising effort.
Stuart spoke about the highs and lows of his journey.
He said: "It was such an amazing feeling. People say to me how they’ve been inspired to raise money for charity because they saw me do it.
"It’s also great to be six stone lighter. Before starting the challenge at the end of October I was 19 stone now I’m 12 stone 11 pounds and I’ve gone from a size 42 waist to a 34.
"My favourite route had to be the service 10 Kilmarnock to Troon as it was such a beautiful day to go with the amazing scenery of the sea and the view to Arran.
"Most people would think the hardest route to run would be the X77 Ayr to Glasgow but for this challenge, it was the service X76b from Muirkirk to Cumnock; there was rain, sleet, snow, hailstones and then more rain and it was minus two degrees."
The longest route Stuart completed is the 35-mile service 4 route from Glasgow to Ayr which he took just over 11 hours to complete.
Stuart added: “I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who sponsored me during my running challenge and I’m really grateful to Stagecoach for offering to match my fundraising effort.
“The money raised will be able to support the British Heart Foundation with the amazing work they do every day to support people like me across the UK living with a heart condition.”
Fiona Doherty, managing director of Stagecoach West Scotland, said: “Everyone at Stagecoach is extremely proud of Stuart for his fundraising efforts, what a fantastic achievement.
“I doubt many people, if any, can say they’ve not only driven a bus on all of Stagecoach’s service routes in Kilmarnock but run them physically as well.
“Great work Stuart and a massive well done for completing a truly unique challenge.”
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