A MAN is using his own weight loss journey to raise as much money as possible for NHS Forth Valley.

Christopher Graham, from Stirling, decided to complete an online challenge of running the distance between Land's End and John O' Groats – a 1,083 mile journey.

He hopes to raise £1 for every mile and donate the money to the NHS.

Christopher says: "It's been hard work, there's been days when I've woke up and thought 'Do I need to do this today?' but I've pushed on, I know it's for a good cause and I've powered through.

"Most days I've enjoyed it [and] it's good during lockdown to get out the house."

Christopher weighed more than 20 stone in January 2020 and decided to try and lose some weight.

However, after losing one stone, he found himself in lockdown along with the rest of the world and his weight jumped back up.

He decided to start running one or two miles a day and then decided to run a marathon in less than a week.

Completing that challenge with one day to spare, he set his sights on a much bigger goal.

He gave himself 10 months to complete the 1,083-mile challenge and is approaching the final stretch.

Christopher also chose to raise money for NHS Forth Valley as they are his local NHS and he wanted to give something back.

He said: "The ultimate goal [is] to raise as much money as I can for the NHS.

"There's been loads of people doing it throughout the year so I just wanted to do my part.

"On the hard days knowing the real reason for doing it is for the NHS pushes me along."

Christopher has since lost 6st and continues to run from his home in St Ninians to Cowie or Bannockburn most days.

However, as he decided he would do the last 26 miles of the 1,083 – a full marathon – in one day, he's been pushing himself further, running to Menstrie and Tullibody.

When he first began, he struggled to run a 2k and now he's running for up to 18k a day with ease.

Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cgraham1982 to donate to Christopher's fundraiser.