It was while scrolling needlessly through social media one day that my running journey appeared to begin.
I'd often considered trying to get fit but nothing quite clicked. Until I saw a social advert for a programme called ManvFat football.
The idea was simple: lose weight, help your team win. It proved to be a pivotal moment and the more time went on, the more pounds appeared to come off.
I hadn't kicked a ball, ran, or really considered exercise for years, terrible, I know. But at the same time, you didn't have to be Lionel Messi to help your team.
Upon joining, I'd already attempted to get a bit fitter, dropping from 19st 4lb to 17st, but I knew I needed more. After starting playing through, the milestones began, losing 5%, 10%, 15% of my bodyweight.
Inspired by my fellow team, and on the verge of turning 30, I downloaded the Couch 2 5K app. I'd dreamed of running a parkrun for a while, three laps of Astbury Mere in Congleton felt so far away though.
How did the almost 400 people each week do it? Would I be too slow? Would someone point at me and laugh? It all ran through my head.
But as the app talked me through each step, my runs started to get longer and the waistline continued to shrink.
I had a goal though, three laps. That was it. It may as well have been a marathon at that stage, or, it was a mental marathon.
Having completed the C25K programme, it was time, I lined up, I started, and three laps later, I'd done it. My first parkrun, in 2021.
It was something I'd dreamt about for years. Not long after, I reached my weight goal,
I’d gone from 19st 4lb at my heaviest to 12st 9lb. Having lost 6st 9lb (42kg).
I knew I needed another goal, and I had my eye on the Potters’ Arf. Someone I worked with suggested a running club might help me train, at the very least, I could swap my 00s pop punk playlist for conversation.
Google suggested Sandbach Striders. Better yet, you can try life as a Strider for a month, so I figured I'd give it a go, what was to lose?
I found myself nervously turning up to the rugby club one Wednesday night to be met with a series of cheery faces. After our warmups, away we went.
It felt a different ballgame at first to run with other people. Everything felt easier, the conversation meant the runs went quicker, the encouragement made me want to keep going at every twist and turn.
Potters' Arf day came and went, I was pleased I'd ran it - having walked it twice before - but my life as a Strider was cemented. And, having tackled a half marathon, my eyes turned to something I'd never considered possible.
Could I, someone who has spent his life as a chronically unfit person run 26.2 miles - after all, the marathon is in itself a somewhat elite club. Having been entered for Blackpool Marathon for 2024, it was go time.
I'd been a Strider for almost a year at this point, and a few other fellow runners were also eyeing up marathons. And so it began, a collective training run, slightly longer on a Sunday.
Similar to the year before, the enthusiasm and encouragement of my fellow Striders was second to none. Each step of the way, a group effort.
On April 21, 2024, I completed something I would have never thought possible. Just two years after I began Couch 2 5K with the aim of running three loops of Astbury Mere, I managed to complete 26.2 of Blackpool.
I'm almost certain that wouldn't have been possible without the support of the Striders.
Matt previously shared a version of this post on WalesOnline. He is currently the secretary of Sandbach Striders.