New York — Six years ago, a doctor told Londoner Julie Creffield that she was too fat to run a marathon. She had none of it, and proved him wrong. On Sunday, the 40-year-old mother of one will be taking part in her fourth marathon -- in New York -- “a dream come true.” The professional life coach began her running career began in 2010, when she took part in a short race and came last. “When I got to the finish line, there was no finish line left, everybody had left and gone home,” she tells AFP, dressed in black leggings and a pink hoodie, her blonde hair in a pony tail after a quick jog in Central Park. She remembers feeling “very embarrassed and thinking maybe I shouldn’t be a runner, maybe I am not welcome in the running world.” So she decided to inspire other women of a similar shape.

“That’s when I started writing the blog,” called “Too Fat to Run,” she says.

The London Olympics later inspired her to run her first marathon.

“I’ve done maybe 30 half marathons and ultra marathons and triathlons... anything that kind of challenges me,” she says.

“For me it’s about inspiring women of all shapes and sizes to give it a go,” she says.

“I feel quite passionate about larger women running, because we weren’t very visible in the running world. When you think runner, you think tall, slim, fast, and lots of people want to run for lots of other reasons.”

Creffield, who says she does not know how much she weighs, wears a dress size 18 in Britain, which is a 16 in the United States.

It is in Central Park, where the fall leaves are already turning yellow, that Creffield hopes to cross the finish line along with the more than 50,000 other runners taking part from around the world.

The average time to complete the New York marathon, which takes in the city’s five boroughs, is four hours, 35 minutes.

Last year’s winner, Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya, romped home in two hours, 10 minutes, 53 seconds.

Creffield calculates that it’ll take her between six and a half, and seven and a half hours. She’ll run as much as she can, and walk when she needs a breather. — AFP