A little about me and why I started RunTribe

Intro

As this is the very first post I thought I would tell you all a little bit about my running story and why I started RunTribe. We have plenty of time to go into more detail about everything but thought this was a good starting point.

Why I started running?

I was always a slightly bigger person compared people around me and I was generally ok with it. That was until I saw a picture of me at a mates wedding, completely without me realising it had got out of hand. When weighing myself I was close to twenty stone. On a mission to lose weight I went for a run, it was short, it was barely quicker than walking pace and it hurt. To be honest it was horrible. But even in those very early runs the feeling of achievement I got after a run was getting getting stronger.

The progress I was seeing not just on the scales but in my running drove me to see what I could achieve. I lost three and half stone in a year and I was amazed what my body could achieve.

The picture that started everything for me - June 2019

Why I’m still running?

Five years have passed now and I love running more now than I ever have. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, I stopped running for close to eighteen months in 2021 and put back on a lot of my weight. But for me it isn’t about losing weight anymore, I know what this body can achieve and I want to keep pushing that. Either running further or faster I’m excited to see what is possible.

Parkrun - May 2024

Why I started RunTribe?

I understood the benefit of running in a group, whether that’s motivation, social benefits or completing different types of runs. I tried to join a couple of running clubs in the local area and always found them either very serious, very fast or at times very judgemental.

I wanted to create a super relaxed environment where people could come along, meet new like minded people and just enjoy running. I completely get the nerves of going to these type of things for the first time so my goal was to create an environment where those feelings are eliminated as soon as possible.

Runtribe group in summer 2024

What’s next?

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a very chilled out person so to be honest I’m not too sure. My biggest goal personally is to just stay consistent and keep enjoying it. As for RunTribe, this community surprises me in the best possible ways so it is just to keep it going and see what we can achieve as a group. I’m excited and RunTribe means so much to me.