But as he miraculously walked away from the scene without a scratch on his body – because he was too heavy to be carried – he felt he had been given a second chance in life.

Now the city's very own Incredible Shrinking Man is preparing to share his remarkable story, From Sofa To Start Line, with the rest of the world.

In October 2004, 50-year-old Mike, a director in a Peterborough-based market research consultancy, weighed in at a whopping 28 stone, was a stranger to exercise and was a heart attack waiting to happen.

But while sitting on his beloved sofa at his home in Viersen Platz, Peterborough, recalling the terrifying moments of the crash, Mike decided he was being given a second chance in life and he was now prepared to grab it with both hands.

From that moment on, Mike worked hard to reclaim his life and overhaul his body with the use of the anti-obesity drug Xenical to kick-start his weight loss.

After losing the first few stone, the father-of-four realised pills were not the answer and swapped a daily dose of tablets with a healthy meal plan and regular exercise.

But it was his GP, Dr Ken Rigg, of the Deepings Health Centre, who challenged him to take up running.

He said: "When I woke up sitting in my car after falling asleep and all I could see was smoke, I really thought I was a goner. I decided it was time to lose a bit of weight and as soon as I took up running I became hooked."

And without a second thought he found himself down to a trim 12.5 stone and signing up to the Great North Run, which he completed in a respectable two hours, 24 minutes and 11 seconds, just six months after being set his challenge.

Since then, Mike, who is now 54, has completed the Flora London Marathon, a second Great North Run, the Great Eastern Run and one of the world's most challenging runs, the Athens Classic Marathon.

He said: "If someone had told me five years ago that I would soon become half the man I used to be, I would be running marathons all over the world rubbing shoulders with the likes of Paula Radcliffe and Jonathan Edwards, I would have laughed.

"But now it is hard to look back and see how I once lived. I have amazed myself and my family, and I hope I can become an inspiration for other runners and people who want to lose weight."

He started writing his book after completing the Athens Classic Marathon in November last year.

From Sofa to Start Line will be in all bookshops from September 9 and is available to pre-order online.

For every book sold, he will donate 50p to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

Mike's weight loss

• MIKE has 5ft 5ins of surgery scars following the removal of his excess skin.


• The skin removed from his abdomen weighed three kilos.


• His waist reduced from 61ins to 23ins.


• His neck size reduced from 23ins to 17ins.


• He shed 54 per cent of his body weight.


• His body mass index reduced from 57 to 27.


• He lost a whole shoe size, dropping from 11 to 10.


• His shirt size reduced from 6XL to XL.


• He has run a total of 200 miles in races to date, and raised thousands of pounds for The Prostate Cancer charity in memory of some of his old friends.