I understand some weight lifting should be incorporated too, any experienced takers?

ANY running for any length of time will benefit you.
if you run that much and have a low fat diet, you will definitely see results.

not true however you should be running for 20-25mins 2-3x a week.

To lose weight you must burn more calories then consumed. It takes a loss of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound! Walking, jogging is a great exercise, but to get in shape you should not do this alone. a good diet (1500 cal / day) with a variety of exercisers you will lose weight.
Weight train and resistance train and you will get wonderful results. Also include any activity you enjoy, boxing, swimming, rollerblading, yoga, biking, etc.
If you enjoy what you are doing your results will come faster!

not true

Running will change your body shape like nothing else, I promise you that. Running burns around 100 calories or more per mile. It also improves core strength and tones your legs, and your whole body. :)

That sounds like a pretty arbitrary amount (and high). If you are just starting out, it is more important to increase the distance slowly -- I am the king of hurting myself in the first five workouts and then having to stop for a few months.
For weight loss, moderate distance running works ok (if you aren't going too hard, you keep yourself at an optimum point for burning fat). Another option is to do interval training where you basically sprint for a while then jog slowly, and keep doing that maybe 4-5 times for a 20 min workout. That keeps your metabolism high all day, which can help a lot. I can tell that actually works because I'll find myself feeling warm (when I might normally be cold) for the rest of the day.
Weight lifting is great because building muscle raises your resting metabolism -- muscle takes calories just sitting there, so it makes it easier for you to control your weight by increasing the number of calories you can consume before having to offset them with exercise.
Really, the best plan is to do a balanced workout that you can do without hurting yourself. That might mean starting by running half a mile or a mile, followed by some simple weight lifting, 3-4 times a week. Then work harder as it becomes possible for you to do it. I really like the exercise routines in the book Body for Life -- you might want to check that out (I'm putting a link below).

You don't need to run that much you could just walk a lot to get benefits but to run that much is a lot of work. Of course running will help but there's no need to run 20 miles a week, I think. If you ran a mile a day for 5 days I think that would be better for you than running 5 miles in one day. Stay active, try do a little something each day. Free advice. Weight lifting is great for muscle toning and strengthening, no reason whatsoever to not lift weights if you want to. You will not bulk up and look like a body builder without years of devotion and effort. In the meantime you will look leaner and less flabby. Try to do something often is my advice, even if only for short amounts of time.