STORMY Stan, mascot of the RNLI, will be putting his best foot forward in this year’s London Marathon.

Simon Marchant, a former RNLI crew member in Penarth, will be wearing the mascot outfit as he takes on the mammoth challenge this spring.

Mr Marchant, aged 41, has been kindly been given permission to use the outfit which is kept at the Lyme Regis lifeboat station.

He was able trace the location of the outfit using social media.

Nick Marks, volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager at Lyme Regis RNLI, said: “ Simon has raised many donations for our life-saving charity and we are delighted to let him borrow Stormy Stan for the marathon and, of course, we wish them both every success.”

Mr Marchant who is from Willand, Cullumpton, will be taking time off from driving his HGV to take part in the marathon on April 25.

But before that he will be warming up by running in a half marathon in Tavistock, and the 108 miles from the RNLI’s Poole headquarters to the Tower lifeboat station on the Thames.

Eighteen months ago. Simon ran 42 marathons in 42 days around the coast of Wales and has also cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

He tried on the mascot outfit for size one night and ran around Holmbush car park in Lyme Regis at 2am.

Mr Marchant said: “I have got permission to make a minor adjustment to Stormy’s head so that I have better vision.

“But fingers crossed, and with a few stops here and there, I hope to complete the marathon within 8 hours. Stormy has a big head so I think other runners will give him a wide berth.”

Mr Marchant has a fund-raising site for Stormy Stan at JustGiving.com