A woman who shed 10 stone is training to compete in Ironman UK in Bolton — in memory of her late father.

Gemma Smith began her weight-loss journey nine years ago when she weighed 20 stone.

She began to eat more healthily, played five-a-side football, having played it is a child, and did kick and Thai boxing before moving onto running as her main form of exercise, losing half her body weight.

Following the death of her dad John Train in 2016, who died at 70 after a battle against colorectal cancer, Mrs Smith is now training six days a week for the Ironman challenge in July.

The 32-year-old, who now weighs 10 and a half stone, said: “At the moment I’m training six days a week, sometimes twice a day. The amount of time varies but sometimes it can be two and a half hours, but the main session is the Sunday ride out on the bike.

“There’s no messing around with this. I’m looking forward to it and I’m going to do everything I can. I just hope I don’t have any bad luck with punctures. That would be the last thing I need.”

Mrs Smith, of Hindley Road, Westhoughton, said she felt better than ever after the weight loss and she had some tips for people looking to shed the pounds.

She said: “My advice to anyone looking to lose weight is don’t expect things to happen overnight. If you are consistent then you can lose weight.

“I never did anything really crazy with the diet. I just ate really healthily during the week and then ate what I wanted at the weekend.

“I always try and feel that I have got work to do. I am always critical of myself and I still feel there’s a long journey ahead.”

Mrs Smith will be competing in aid of Bolton Hospice, who looked after Mr Train towards the end of his life.

She said: “Bolton Hospice took really good care of my dad but they don’t just finish the support when die, they are very supportive to the family as well when they’re grieving.

“He was in such a bad place at the end. The pain was just unbearable for him for the last two weeks and he could not be at home.

“But Bolton Hospice was just brilliant. We could not have asked anything more.”

For more information or to sponsor Mrs Smith, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/gemma-smith81