Southwell's Mark Segasby will run the London Marathon in memory of his mother, who died of pancreatic cancer

A man who lost 9½st is running the London Marathon in memory of his mother, who died of pancreatic cancer.

Mark Segasby, of Southwell, has raised nearly £3,000 of his £5,000 target for Pancreatic Cancer UK, which supported his mother in her last few months.

The 44-year-old is running the 26-mile race in memory of his mother, Trish, who died in June.

He has never run a marathon before, and just three years ago weighed in at 24st.

He was motivated to lose weight after he became self-conscious about his skin.

Mark said: “I’ve always had bad skin. I didn’t mind being fat but I was unhealthy and my bad skin was a sign of that.

“I sorted out my eating and became a vegan for health reasons and started doing lots of walking.

“I would walk four miles in the morning and four miles in the evening.

“I started running to the next lamppost and slowly eased myself in that way.

“I have lost about 9½st in total now. I used to be 24 stone and now I am 14.5 stone.”

Mark has gone on to do half-marathons and since his mother’s death has had the motivation to take the next step and run a marathon.

“I feel like a different person. I look at the photos of me with the kids, with my wife, before I lost the weight and I can’t believe it’s me.”

He said: “I have done a few half-marathons. She (his mother) was aware I had done them. It was something to aim for, a focus.”

“It’s really important for me to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer.

“Those with pancreatic cancer need specialist care.

“We couldn’t get that from a GP or a hospital.

“I rang up Pancreatic Cancer UK on behalf of my parents and spoke to a trained nurse straight away who gave us great advice for mum.

“If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have had the information and support we needed.

“They helped us through that difficult experience.”

Mark said that training was going well but he didn’t want to jinx anything.

“I have downloaded a training plan,” he said.

“I haven’t joined a running club, I prefer doing it alone.

“The most I’ve ran so far is 30km.

“You have to dedicate yourself to training. Even if it’s snowing outside you have to keep going.

“I feel like a different person. I look at the photos of me with the kids, with my wife, before I lost the weight and I can’t believe it’s me.”

Mark, who went to The Grove School in Balderton, said he had always been large, right from his schooldays.

He said: “I was always the fat kid at school.

“Teachers would send a group of us out running ten minutes before everyone else in PE and we would still come last.

“I wasn’t unhappy before, but I am definitely happier now.

“It’s nice to be a better role model to my three children.”

If you'd like to make a donation to Mark's cause, visit his JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/seggyruns