Eight seriously obese people have been given an extraordinary chance to lose weight, get fit and change their lives in a marathon 500-mile walk from the south coast of England to Edinburgh.

Their route will take in a variety of different terrains. Tough cross-country trails with mountains to climb will test their strength, stamina and leave them no option but to carry on to the top.

Cities / towns / areas en route

# Branscombe (East Devon coast)
# Taunton
# Bristol Over the Severn Bridge
# Chepstow
# Monmouth – along the River Wye – Offa’s Dyke Path
# Worcester – via the Malvern Hills – or via the River Seven Path
# Birmingham
# Stoke-on-Trent
# Manchester
# Preston
# Blackpool
# Morecambe
# Yorkshire Dales / Pennines (from Ingleton)
# Carlisle
# Hadrian’s Wall (Haltwhistle)
# Keilder Forest Park
# Hawick – Scottish Boarders
# Edinburgh

The walkers will start at the same time, at the same point. Although it will be immediately obvious who is fitter and who can walk fastest, the walk is not a race. in fact the walkers will be encouraged to stick together and learn from each other. At times, there will be a buddy system in place and the walkers will have to stick with their buddy group. This will force them to experience the journey from someone else’s point of view. They will be able to motivate one another and also help each other out with the day-to-day necessities like attending to each other’s blisters, or tying each other’s shoes. This is essential as many of the walkers would be unable to do these simple chores without help.

Accommodation

This will be a mix of camping and staying overnight in accommodation along the route. For the most part the walkers will set up camp at the end of each day. This will give them some social time together when they are not walking and force them to take on roles and responsibilities within the group. They will have a weekly budget to cover their needs and may decide to put this money towards nights in decent accommodation.

Eight seriously obese people have been given an extraordinary chance to lose weight, get fit and change their lives in a marathon 500-mile walk from the south coast of England to Edinburgh.

The walkers taking part are:

Adam Van Gogh – 29, from Newcastle, weighs 22 stones 9 lbs

Adam wants people to see past his weight to see the man inside, but his wife’s cooking – she even deep-fries lettuce – isn’t helping!

Alice Duxbury – 27, from Leicestershire, 22 stones 8 lbs

Alice wants to get married but is afraid she won’t look good in her wedding dress. She has tried every diet in the book and all of them have failed. This is her last chance to get control of her weight.

Gary Baines - 44, from Lancashire, weighs 24 stones 4 lbs

He’s been told that unless he loses weight he won’t be around to see his daughters grow up and is worried that they will become fat too.

Hayley Rentall – 27, from Middlesex, 23 stone 11 lbs, dress size 24-28.

Hayley has two kids, aged 2 and 3-years old, and doesn’t want to be the fattest mum at the school gates. She was bullied as a child for her weight.

Jack Gordy – 20, from Leeds, weighs 26 stones

Jack wants to lose weight to have the confidence to stop hiding away at home and get a life that a lad his age should be living, going out having fun and meeting girls. He has a BMI (Body Mass Index, a measure of how fat someone is) of nearly 50 – twice the recommended healthy limit of 25.

Jane Thompson Smith – 41, from Middlesborough, 23 stones 3 lbs

Jane wants to have kids, but she’s been told that it will be a risk unless she loses weight.

Stacey Pinnock – 22, from East London. 23 stones 8 lbs, dress size 28.

She’s never had a boyfriend and is unemployed. Stacey wants to lose weight to get her dream job as an airhostess (she can’t fit into the seats at the moment).

Vincent Youngman – 24, from Brighton, 31 stones 5 lbs

Vincent is an actor who’s sick of being offered jobs because of his size and wants to be appreciated for his talent instead.

Starts Monday, November 6th on Channel 4

Eight seriously obese people have been given an extraordinary chance to lose weight, get fit and change their lives in a marathon 500-mile walk from the south coast of England to Edinburgh.

The four men and four women are aged between 20 and 44 and come from across the country. Their weights of up to 32 stones are not only making them unhappy, but also putting their lives at risk.

They have a range of reasons for taking part: Gary’s doctor told him that if he didn’t lose weight he risked not being around to see his kids grow up; Stacey wants to be an airhostess, but can’t even fit in airline seats; while Jack hopes that losing weight will give him the confidence to stop hiding himself away and get life a lad his age should have, going to clubs and having girlfriends.

But it’s going to be a huge lifestyle change for the walkers, who are more used to comfort-eating on their sofas than hiking in all weathers. And despite help and advice from experts at the start, it’s down to them to find the physical and emotional strength to complete this amazing challenge.

The eight-week trip will be an incredible journey for all of the participants. Not only do they face up to twelve hours of walking a day, but they will also need to stick to a new eating plan. And on top of that, they’ll have to get along with, and support, their fellow walkers as they share tents camping along the way.

The march comes as Britain faces an obesity epidemic; half of the population are overweight and a fifth are clinically obese, risking early deaths.

Losing weight should be straightforward: eat fewer bad foods and do more exercise. Yet many experts believe that there are psychological as well as physiological factors stopping people from getting thin and staying that way.

How will the walkers get on, and can they provide a radical solution to their own and others problems?