Early in his career, when there was still a split between professional and amateur fell racing, Stuart competed in professional races, converting to amateur status in 1982. His first full amateur season in 1983 was marked by close competition with John Wild who had won the previous year's championship. Stuart won the last 1983 championship race at Thieveley Pike, thereby becoming British champion.[2]
In 1986, Stuart turned his attention to road running and won his debut marathon that year at Glasgow in 2:14:03. He went on to set his best marathon time of 2:11:36 at Houston in 1989 but his career was curtailed by increasing allergy and virus problems.[10]