A WINTON postman who quit smoking and started running to lose weight will today have extra reason to celebrate his 36th birthday after receiving a fairytale international call up.

Bournemouth AC star Steve Way is set to represent England in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in September - just three years after embarking on a serious running career.

Way was a 16-stones, 20-a-day smoker when he decided it was time to lace up his trainers and get in shape. But what began as a quest for fitness has led to an inspirational story of success.

Poole-based Way had run a marathon in 2006 prior to his health kick, but had not been a serious trainer or competitor and had piled on the pounds.

But his move to get into run¬ning "seriously" in September 2007 resulted in a remarkable rise. Crowned British over-35 10-mile champion last year, Way was seventh Briton across the finishing line in April's London Marathon and was previously fastest British male in the New York Marathon.

The former IT worker, who runs about 140 miles a week when preparing for races, is now eagerly awaiting his England debut in an international team challenge within the marathon in Canada later this year.

Way told the Echo: "I was ranked ninth. There were six runners selected for the European Championships and Commonwealth Games, which means I was one of the next in line for the three-man team in Toronto.

"I was aware of the competi¬tion and the opportunity, so I made England Athletics fully aware that I was most definitely interested and then I got the call and got the selection, which made my year.

"The Toronto marathon falls almost exactly on the third-year anniversary of me getting off my fat behind. Back then, it was to target the 2008 London Marathon.

"I had dabbled in a bit of run¬ning in the past before I got seri¬ously overweight, but it was back at the end of September 2007 that I got the trainers out of the cupboard.

"In three years, I've gone from nothing to England internation¬al, which is quite good."

Way was made redundant from his IT job when he was getting stuck into his running career and became a part-time postman - a job he admits fits in perfectly with his training regime.

Despite his age and late arrival into the sport, Way is confident he can continue to improve, but he admits the London 2012 Olympics is likely to remain a distant dream, with other British team candidates around five minutes faster.

He added: "Realistically, I should have started a couple of years ago and I might have had a chance. I would say we'd have to have some sort of miracle in the next 12 months for 2012 to happen for me.

"The goals are simply to get as fast as I can.

"If you'd put me in a position three years ago and told me I'd have had an England vest in September this year then I would have laughed at you."