As a kid, Adam Betteridge was never particularly good at sports. Too much testosterone required – which at the time he didn’t seem to have a lot of. 4 Half Marathons and a complete Marathon later this is his story.
It seemed I was of a more artistic persuasion destined instead to share time with school-friends singing in choirs and playing musical instruments. In a world of sport apparently dominated by straight men, I figured that’s just the way it was for gays like me.
About 20 years went by and, apart from the occasional venture into the local gym, I pretty much veered away from outdoor sports. But in 2010, that started to change.
I’d become part of a group called Bear-Patrol and together we started to encourage each other to do fun things to raise money for charity. Whether it was sports days, camping, jumping out of a plane or something else – to say we started throwing ourselves into things would probably be an understatement.
A few of the guys and girls decided to take part in the Brighton Half Marathon running in aid of the Sussex Beacon. With my plaster cast firmly wedged to my leg (yes I has previously broken it and no I did not do it either running or falling down the stairs at Revenge), I could only watch with some degree of awe as my fellows took on what was for me the ultimate challenge. Long distance running. Even just the thought of it made me shudder somewhere deep in side. I hated running. Where was the fun in that?
Not one to be left out, a group of us non-runners got together to show our support for those actually running, and on the day of the Half Marathon in 2012, we volunteered together to look after one of the ‘Water Stations’ – where we help thirsty runners avoid dehydration along the route by dishing out bottles of water or sports drinks as they dashed passed. And there I got to feel for the very first time that surge of pride and excitement as the various members of our merry gang ran passed. Of all shapes, sizes and even ages – I recall one of our runners even had metal hips – I remembering thinking “Wow these guys have really achieved something!”
My mind was made up. Inspired by the efforts of so many others, I decided once and for all I was going to challenge my lifelong dislike of long distance running. I would start training to enter the Brighton Half Marathon 2013.
Being someone who would normally struggle to run for a bus, I was more than a little anxious to say the least. I tentatively joined the Bear-Patrol Runners group on Facebook and watched the various members in the group encourage each other online, share tips and experiences, set mutually convenient times to run, listen patiently to each others struggles. I assumed I’d probably look frightful running anything more than a few meters, so on someones suggestion, I did a few solo runs first. I still remember how nervous I was before that first relatively short run. It did feel strange at first, and to be fair I was probably waddling more than running, but after I finished I was amazed at how good I felt. The blood pumping around my system somehow gave me a bit of buzz – which I have to say I rather enjoyed
As my confidence began to grow, I decided to join the main group on one of their weekly Sunday morning runs starting off from the rather exotic location by the car wash in Asda Car Park at Brighton Marina. I was immediately struck as to how friendly and welcoming everyone was. Whilst I was encouraged to run as far as I could, I was left to decide where my own limits were. If I only wanted to run a short distance, that was fine, If I wanted to join one of the more experience runners on a longer run – that was fine too. And a real bonus was – we all meet up after at a local cafe and tuck into our favourite guilty pleasure – whether it was a piece of cake or a full English breakfast. There really is nothing like the taste of it having just burned off all the calories in advance. Some of the guys just come along to the cafe whether they have run or not. Everyone really is welcome.
5 years later, I have somehow managed to take part in 4 Half Marathons and even managed a Marathon. If I was to have asked myself 5 years ago if I had thought that this could have been possible, I would have probably just laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea.
And beyond that, sitting around have a natter and cuppa after a long run has motivated various members of the group to take on further personal challenges, including hiking up Mount Snowdon in Wales and Scafell Pike in the Lake District
Plans are now afoot to arrange a 5 Year Anniversary for all people involved in the Bear Patrol Runners activities, which is set to take place on Sunday 5th June at the Seattle Hotel in Brighton Marina. So if you are interested in meeting a few of the people involved in the group, whether as a runner or as a member of the Water Station, why not pop along for a cup of tea and natter…you just never know what you might feel inspired to do!
For more info about Bear-Patrol Runners, click here:
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