I asked one of our members, Adam Demeester, if he could do a quick write up on what he thought about TeamBR with the thought that it might be useful for anyone thinking about joining the team. Adam has been with the us for just under a year (at the time of writing) and it’s been amazing watching the improvement in him during this time. He recently took on the North Linconshire Half Marathon and smashed his PB by over 3 minutes! Adam is very supportive and is always encouraging his fellow team mates in our training sessions and I’m glad he wasn’t too harsh on us! 🤣
Having started running and becoming reasonably decent and self taught, I decided to join a local club. My thoughts where that it might help me improve and be more consistent & faster in races. I tried various local clubs but wasn’t finding what I felt I was lacking and needed. I became aware of TeamBR in Broughton just up the road from Scunthorpe and it was cheaper than most so signed up last year.
They run a different session during the week for different activities and one called “Punishment Monday”. So, I attended this weekly. It soon became apparent this was a club to not out only make us run faster, but also teach us how to run in the correct manner. Form, ability, techniques and recovery was all demonstrated and “drilled” into us week by week. They run different sessions week to week with Steve Portess the coach advising and looking at individual needs required to help improve everyone’s weaknesses.
Week after week I could feel my ability improving and the TeamBR spirit and support was clear to see and made me feel very welcome.
This year the coach picked 3 members with different abilities and goals for long term coaching. I was chosen as the candidate to work towards race goals and long term objectives. The coach gave me an assessment back in December to then work on a “years plan” for events then plugged these in to make the structure and sessions tailored to my own personal needs.
TeamBR is not like any club I’ve been to before, everyone is friendly, supportive and with a group WhatsApp page you are never far from chat, words of encouragement and running advice from each and every member.
How to train smart and not become injured is part of Steve’s team values. They run various “Hill” session to mix up the normal running routines and keep things interesting. I cannot say enough good things about TeamBR, it’s members and Steve Portess as a coach who honestly isn’t driven by membership revenues, he just works to help each and everyone of us to become better, stronger runners. I’m currently working towards running my first marathon event and the tailor made plan has already helped me achieve 5k,10k, and Half Marathon PB’s in a relatively short time.
With this years plan and Coach and Team behind me, who knows what else I can achieve. would recommend this running club to anyone from beginners to experienced racers. It caters for all!
Come along and “train smart” with TeamBR 💪
Adam Demeester
