'Running helped us recover from addiction'

A running club that helps people overcome drug and alcohol addiction is hosting an Easter race to raise money for charity and support its local community.

Dean Smith and Jamie Heselden from Leeds set up Recovery Runners four years ago after battles with substance abuse.

The friends found running helpful in their recovery journeys and decided they wanted to support others going through something similar.

Mr Heselden says: "I went from being a 24-hour drinker to getting out and doing a run. After that run, you feel great. The endorphins after you've been out for a run - I can't describe the feeling you get. It's amazing.

"Every runner I've spoken to says the same. It makes you feel better about yourself. It releases the endorphins in your brain, and you just feel great."

The friends first began running in 2017, when they took part in the Abbey Dash - a 10km (6.2 mile) charity race in Leeds.

Mr Heselden says: "I was doing a Couch to 5K with Spacious Places, a drug rehabilitation centre in Leeds, where I went when I was coming off alcohol.

"Dean was also doing one with Growing Rooms.

"So we met up in Temple Newsam and we decided to do something together. We posted on social media and overnight it went massive."

Mr Smith adds: "You straight away notice the benefits of positive mental health and physical exercise.

"I definitely poo-pooed that before beginning. I thought it was a lot of rubbish. But then I started feeling better by doing something physical.

"We entered a lot of races and we did a lot of 10kms. We've both done quite a few marathons between us and then Recovery Runners went mad.

"We started off with people in recovery from drugs and alcohol, but pretty soon it became wider than that.

"People with eating disorders, gambling issues, PTSD, anxiety, depression, long Covid, recovering from long illnesses, recovery from cancer, and it's just become a safe, non-judgmental place for people to come on a Sunday."

The group of 40 to 50 runners meets every Sunday morning at Reynolds Boxing Academy in Halton Moor, and it is open to anyone wants to build physical activity into their recovery or improve their mental health.

It is supported by boxer Jack Bateson, former professional footballer Noel Whelan, and deputy mayor of West Yorkshire Alison Lowe.

Mr Smith says he has heard from members how running with the club saved their lives.

"We've seen people come who couldn't run, never run before.

"There was a girl that came, Charlotte, and she were she had real bad eating problem. She struggled. She'd run 5km (3.1 miles). She'd never stop, but she didn't want to shuffle. Then she'd stop and she'd cry and she'd throw up.

"Then last year, she ran her first marathon. And she sat with me afterwards, she said Recovery Runners saved my life.

"You take that quite flippantly. But the week before she came she had applied for weight reduction surgery, and she'd said to herself if she didn't get it, she was going to kill herself.

"And the week after she got the letter to say she wasn't getting it, somebody introduced her to a couple of runners.

"In that first year she lost seven stone through running."

He says stories like Charlotte's are why they see the running group as a community, more than a club.

"We don't set ourselves on a pedestal, we don't set ourselves as an elite group," says Mr Smith.

"We don't make people do what they don't want to do, they come down they run a 5km, run a 10km, at their own pace. You see people flourish and get better every week. It's unreal, it's mental."

The club has also worked with the community to provide food for struggling families, and every Christmas they donate presents to the Salvation Army to ensure local children don't go without.

This Easter, runners are encouraged to bring an Easter Egg or food donation for local foodbanks.

"When we started out it was Christmas. And we charged everybody a fiver and that money went back in to the club," says Mr Heselden.

"Everybody got a medal and a mince pie and refreshments and then the toys went to Lineham Farm children's charity.

"But then we wanted to try and find somebody else we could help. We started working alongside the Salvation Army.

"So this year, the food bank collection and the Easter eggs will go to local school. It's not just about fundraising, it's about helping the local community as well," says Mr Smith.

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