Running with pride

It all started with a marathon I wasn’t ready for.

I signed up on a whim for the 2014 Brighton Marathon and with less than two months to train. I had no idea what I was doing, but something about the challenge – the movement, the solitude, the sheer madness – stuck with me.

In time, running became more than a personal escape. It became the thing that led me to one of the most important communities of my life: a place where I could be queer, be myself and still be called a runner.

I was always interested in sport growing up but struggled to match my enthusiasm with ability when it came to team games.

Finding my place in sport

Although I wasn’t consciously questioning my sexuality at the time, looking back I’m sure part of that stemmed from the changing room anxiety that will be familiar to many LGBTQ+ people.

I came out – to myself and to others – relatively late in life and even then, I found it hard to fit in.

There were gay people in my life, but they were individuals rather than a network, and I was still searching for a sense of community.

Despite what I now realise was foolish naivety, I completed that first race in a time I couldn’t have dreamed of.

The following year I ran it again, that time fundraising for Stonewall. Running that race in one of Europe’s queerest cities was a tremendous rush.

I can still hear the slightly louder cheers from the local LGBTQ+ community as I shuffled past in my bespoke Stonewall vest, but despite this newfound pride, running was still a solitary activity.

I’d heard of London Frontrunners – an LGBTQ+ running club – but hadn’t worked up the courage to go.

Eventually, I turned up one Monday evening in Waterloo, where I found myself surrounded by over 100 runners who all seemed to know each other and were completely at ease laughing, stretching and chatting like old friends.

I was too nervous to even announce myself as a newcomer and tried my best to blend into the background.

On the run itself, I went off too fast and got hopelessly lost, so by the time I returned to the changing rooms, everyone had gone.

Feeling chastened, I didn’t return for a few months until eventually I did. Then I went again and again.

Gradually, I started to relax – I even spoke to people!

Soon I was going to the post-run socials and signing up for races – this time proudly wearing a Frontrunners vest –  and I’ve never looked back.

Over the next few years, I formed some of the most special and enduring friendships of my life, took part in my first Pride marches and, for the first time, I felt part of a community.

I moved to Manchester in early 2021, and one of the first things I did post-lockdown was joining Manchester Frontrunners.

Barely knowing anyone in the city, the club became a crucial social lifeline.

Creating a new and space for the LGBTQ+ community

When Manchester didn’t work out and I moved to Bristol in 2022, I immediately looked to see if there was a local Frontrunners. There wasn’t.

“Set one up!” my friends said and while it felt daunting, it was also exciting so after a couple of months of procrastination, I decided to take the plunge but only to find someone had just beaten me to it, so I joined straight away and offered to help.

Slowly, we started to grow from two or three people to a much larger, enthusiastic community.

Many were like me: new to the city and looking to make friends.

It’s taken time and patience, but we now feel part of the LGBTQ+ community in Bristol.

One of the best outcomes has been connecting with other local LGBTQ+ sports clubs and we regularly organise joint socials to bring even more people together.

It’s also been incredible watching some of our runners take part in their first-ever races – including this year’s Bristol Half Marathon – proudly wearing their Bristol Frontrunners t-shirts.

This summer we’ll be marching at Bristol Pride for the first time and we’ll do so loudly, proudly and with open arms for anyone who wants to join.

We’re especially keen to speak to people who don’t think running is “for them”, because it is!

It’s an incredibly challenging time for the LGBTQ+ community, both here in the UK and around the world as trans people, in particular, are reporting increasing hostility and barriers to participation in sport.

That’s why it’s more important than ever that clubs like ours do everything we can to counteract that – by providing support, solidarity and safety.

Frontrunners is – and always will be – for everyone, so we stand and run together.

Discovering running – and the global Frontrunners community – has been life-changing for me and for so many others who were once bullied in school, sidelined in sport and made to feel like they didn’t belong.

So it doesn’t matter whether someone is training for an ultramarathon or just joining us for a Wednesday jog and a chat.

What matters is that they’re part of something. In this case, one big, proud, welcoming community who runs together in pride.

I recommend you checking the Pride Sports LGBT+ club finder to find something community-led local to you.

And if you want to follow us on social media, we’re on Instagram, Strava and on Run Together.