I wanted to interview people that I admire, love, find to be an inspiration and motivation to me.
And first person that I want to share with you, is my Big Bruv and a crew member from Manchester, Jamie Simpson. We met in Berlin while the Half Marathon and became instant friends for life. He keeps me pushing, believes in me and reminds me of my positive parts all the time. Rarely in our lives we find people that we just click and know that the friendship is there, Jamie is like that for me. He is a new to running (less than 4 months!!!) but he has such an amazing spirit and he will go so far with his goals. I have the honor to run next to him in Hackney, which will be his first Half, so happy to share that with him! Super proud of you, my friend!!
Name, age, where you are from, what do you do:
Jamie Simpson aka poppa j, 37 years young, from Manchester England, UK. I work in retail as a store manager for Footasylum.
Why did you start to run?
I started running through my good friends Ciaran and Richard who are co founders of Still Waters Run Deep based in Manchester, they inspired and motivated me to push myself and to step out my comfort zone and in doing so I’ve loved every minute of it!! Apart from getting injured of course.
What running has given to you?
Running has given me a positive frame of mind, strong body, lots of new inspiring people in my life as well as a sense of achievement every time I go that extra couple of mile or kilometers.
Goals when it comes to running?Ā
My goals are to finish my first race (Hackney Half Marathon) with my running crew and some special people pushing me all the way and then continue to race eventually doing my first full marathon in the near future. At this early stage I’m not looking to smash PB’s just go out there and enjoy the atmosphere and be part of the bridge the gap movement which is also a massive inspiration seeing how much it’s growing.
Favorite race/race memory?
As I’m still waiting to do my first race I can’t say I’ve got a favourite race but my race memory has got to be seeing my two good friends Rich aka Apples and Mirka aka Mirka bird (that’s meeee š ) aka my little big sister finish the Berlin Half Marathon and experiencing the whole atmosphere that surrounded the whole bridge the gap movement and all the friends I made whilst out there, so I have to give a big shout out to the Berlin Braves for hosting us and what an amazing time and memories I have from there!!!Ā
Personal golden tip/motto when it comes to running?
