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“INSPIRING ATHLETES ONE STRIDE AT A TIME”

EDITOR’S NOTE

DEAR READERS

Since we first uploaded onto YouTube and Instagram in July 2023, we have been working tirelessly to bring our niche, but loyal audience, content that feels representative of themselves. It reflects what has always been important to us as a brand – championing the Scottish athletics scene.

Callum Matthews, a long-time friend and fellow Glasgow Caledonian University diehard/alumni, came to me with an idea and asked me to get on board. Our media group grew and most of you will now be more aware of our man behind the camera, often balancing it while riding a bike, Theo Phillips Smith. While Theo has often been given a strict editing curfew to ensure he sleeps, he has been supported by the rest of our team – Rory Muir on the editing and graphics and myself and Lydia Blythe lending our voice to interview athletes.

To many, you see the races and the media – after all, it’s what we are known for. While many have praised Flat ‘N Fast events, they may miss the moments where we are individually stressing out. None of what we have is possible without the work behind the scenes too. It would be remiss of me not to thank Euan Rose for his work. Not only was

he pivotal in sorting out course measurements for our races, but has been a great crutch during event organising and providing support to keep our feet on the ground and our team away from any civil courts. A special thank you to Murray Beattie for their early work in building the foundation of our team too and Emma Coles for coming up with what is one of the most important parts of a brand – the name.

A massive thanks has to go to Scottish Athletics too. Not only is our governing body so focused on its community, but they make athletes feel important regardless of their ability. Without

the work already produced by them, Stride would not have had the inspiration to take off. Initially we were worried about stepping on toes, instead, we have been welcomed with open arms by the community and our contribution has been supported.

So why the magazine? Well, sometimes it is nice just to have something a bit more physical. With music streaming, we still have vinyl. With streaming services, we still have the cinema. With video media, we still have written media. While trends change our mediums of entertainment and communication, there is a reason older forms still survive. Features from around the world and on topics close to and far away from home, we’ve got you covered in our quarterly publication.

Flat ‘N Fast, much like many firsts, is special, but it’s rarely your best. A year on from the inaugural race, Flat ‘N Fast 3 was held. The look, the size, and the atmosphere was a stark contrast. We had several household brands setting up

shop around the West Lothian Cycle Circuit in September 2024. One year earlier, we had one arch loaned to us by a shoe brand. Our support were mostly family, friends and believers. We had no videos released when Flat ‘N Fast entries first went live. It took 16 days to sell out, which we were over the moon with! This time it was under eight hours with more than double the entries.

Stride has taken the team to England and around Scotland, interviewing elite athletes and becoming known to Olympians. However, we always go back to the root, our loyal community. We continue to have run clubs in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London and host local events in our home country. We are unapologetically Scottish and passionate about showing why athletics here is a hotbed. The question continues to be, how can we continue to produce exceptional runners without the need for them to leave? We see Flat ‘N Fast as part of that remedy, providing an event that gives you a great

chance of a personal best, but it’s more than that, it’s a culture that needs to be sustained.

We continue to play our small part in the bigger picture and we thank everyone who has been on that journey from the start. Your belief is the difference between failure and success and we promise to continue serving our community in the best way we can.

Our team continues to grow, and we look to introduce you to them formally in our Stride-specific inaugural edition of the Instrider.

Michael Houston

Instrider Editor

THE FORMATION OF STRIDE

That first starting gun at Flat ‘N Fast in September 2023 was months of preparation. We turn up, get our number, warm up, race, cool down, head home. Even for the organisers, the time between unlocking the gate at the West Lothian Cycle Circuit and putting the padlock on feels like a blur, but it was months of unseen work to set up Stride Athletics and host our first race.

I entered a group chat in mid-May, already occupied by Callum Matthews and two of the early “founding fathers”, Murray Beattie and Chris Farquhar. While Murray and Chris took a step back later down the line with an already-demanding schedule in their professional lives, they were pivotal to the early days of Stride, down to their input on the branding, including our name.

And speaking of that name, “Stride Athletics” was the brainchild of Emma Coles, Callum’s partner. Simple, but effective. You can spend days looking for the perfect moniker when it’s right there in front of you. You can see even from those opening weeks, Stride was a collaborative effort in its foundation.

But things moved fast. Euan Rose joined our team by the end of the month, lending expertise as a race organiser. The following day we had booked the West Lothian Cycle Circuit as a venue for the first Flat ‘N Fast and by the end of the week our future Head of Media, Theo Phillips Smith, joined the team. From me entering a group chat where only a concept existed, to forming a dream team in just two weeks with our race scheduled to go ahead.

And yes, this was all before we had pressed record on a camera. A venue was booked and the race was announced before a lap of footage was filmed. We would add Rory Muir and Eve MacKinnon to the team before entries went live, providing more media and logistics support, while Eve would act as our women’s sport consultant to steer our decision-making in the right direction, before also stepping back due to work commitments. While there are names that we associate with Stride today, the brand is not what it is today without the help of those who are no longer involved.

Two weeks before the entries opened, the key was not to haemorrhage money. None of us had financial backing, no sponsors could be signed when all we had was a race concept, no videos uploaded and no athletes

entered. Who is taking a punt on an idea? We had discussions about how many would need to run to get our money back.

“We’re aiming for 100 to break even,” said Callum in the chat.

“200 [a sellout] would be superb”.

“Realistically though, 100 is more likely.”

Callum and I’s friendship and working relationship can be summed up of them being the dreamer and I being the grounded one. Sometimes he came with an outlandish idea that he was able to pull off, including Stride itself. In a rare instance, I was the more optimistic one.

“I reckon we could get 150,” I buoyantly said, still unconvinced we could get a full field.

On June 18, the entries went live. Eight in the first hour was expected with the fantastic promotion we had been doing on socials; and that had doubled by hour three. By the end of day one, that number had been boosted to nearly 30 entrants.

But the momentum just kept rolling. Day three ended with over 60 entrants and that famous breakeven mark was eviscerated five days in. Any caution or pessimism had evaporated. By the end of June, my starry prediction of 150 had also been

smashed. Literally no one at Stride Athletics – despite our lofty dreams – expected this to sell as well as it did.

And on Day 18, July 5, we sold out Flat ‘N Fast.

We still had over two months until the race took place and had truly expected entries to be rolling in until the night before, but we had captured something particularly special. The five-lap format was a unique selling point, hard to find across the United Kingdom.

All of this, without a video or even a video announcement.

A special mention should be given to Mark Gallacher who is a fantastic ambassador for athletics and is a Day One supporter of Stride. He was our first-ever entrant, just minutes after we announced them open. A massive shout-out is deserved for Corstorphine AAC who had a dozen athletes enter within the first week too. It showed once again that yes, we were putting on an exciting event, but for it to become that, you need people to come in the first place.

Behind the scenes, we had been working hard. Down in the borders, we filmed a workout video with Conan Harper – our first star on the YouTube channel – and followed that up with Alice Goodall and Sarah Calvert. Not long after launching we had friend of Stride, Jemma Reekie join us for a workout video – giving us another level of legitimacy for which we are eternally grateful for. Conan’s video dropped on July 21 and from there, the Stride you know and love, was born.

While the hype was building around the workout videos and the entries selling out, our team was hard at work securing ProTay as timekeepers, on Running and Achilles Heel as sponsors, as well as the boring administrative tasks that have to be completed to host a race including measuring the course, receiving certification from Scottish Athletics and ensuring we had the best officials and medical team on hand.

And that is all before the starting gun had been fired.

As we packed up and headed to the pub that Friday evening, we had 160 finishers at the inaugural Flat ‘N Fast and a personal best rate of over 56 per cent. Almost 100 people, our breakeven figure, recorded personal bests.

And that was only the start...

MEET THE TEAM

CALLUM MATTHEWS

Founder & Head of Stride

THEO PHILLIPS SMITH

Head of Media

“I’ve been involved with athletics since I was 12 years old when I joined my local club and was fortunate enough to represent Scotland, pick up national medals and compete in events around the world. But most importantly, I fell in love with the sport and the people involved with it. Having now been involved for nearly 17 years, I couldn’t imagine life without it.

At Stride I’m responsible for the day-to-day tasks and organisation of events such as Flat ‘N Fast. Outside of Stride I compete for Cambuslang Harriers, enjoy (suffer) being a season ticket holder at Rangers and just enjoy being outdoors and having a laugh with friends, family and the dugs!

“I’m Theo, a 21-year-old who happens to share a birthday with the legendary Eliud Kipchoge. I’m studying Product Design Engineering at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art, while also wearing many hats as the Head of Media at Stride.

From day one, we realised that a strong media presence could set us apart, so I take charge of planning and creating all our visual marketing, as well as conducting interviews with some of the biggest names in our sport. Having lived all over Scotland, I made lots of videos as a kid – so stepping into this role felt like a natural evolution of that passion!

LYDIA BLYTHE

South of England Lead, Media Team

Instrider Editor & Journalist

““My name is Lydia and I’ve been part of Stride for about a year now. I live in London and have ties to Scotland from University which was my route into the Stride team.

I’ve ran competitively since I was about 14 and love the opportunities that involvement in athletics has afforded me. This is the main reason I continue to run; the friends I’ve made, the chance to better myself through training, and to surpass expectations come race day.

I am proud to see the progress Stride is making and am looking forward to another successful summer of interviewing in Scotland, England and beyond.

“I’ve been a runner since I was 10 years old, lucky enough to have once ran for Scotland and being surrounded by great teammates at Inverclyde AC and across Glasgow, where I now live. You can usually find me with a mic in my hand, either bringing you commentary at Flat ‘N Fast or singing punk songs in Bloc+ on a Monday night – come say hi if you see me!

I’m a freelancer who has worked at the Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as two Commonwealth Games – including in Glasgow, which consolidated my love for the industry. Nowadays, I work in sports communications within the Olympic Movement while dedicating the rest of my time to Stride, which I’ve been involved with for nearly two years.

I have been involved in running for many years. Originally a member of Dundee Hawkhill now based in Glasgow and a member and stalwart on the road for East Kilbride AC.

Having been involved in race organisation in my time on Glasgow University Hares and Hounds and Dunbartonshire AAC committees I was keen to get involved with Stride to help get Flat ‘N Fast off the ground.

I’m pleased to see that Flat ‘N Fast has grown to be a highlight on the Scottish road calendar and hope to get the chance to run it soon.

“Having previously worked in the sector for a few years, I still dabble in Graphic Design in my spare time. As a new member of Cambuslang Harriers, I got chatting to Callum and offered my skills to help out with Stride. Nowadays, I take care of the website, magazine design and other bits and bobs to assist the media team.

Running has been part of my life for a long time and I enjoy taking on a range of events from middle distances on the track to cross country, road races and the occasional highland games. I think it is brilliant what Stride Athletics are doing and I am excited see what the future holds.

Media Team

MICHAEL HOUSTON

EUAN ROSE RORY MUIR

Events Team

Graphic Designer,

“Started with Stride Athletics as the resident piper of Flat ‘N Fast, with the occasional 5k raced in between tunes. I have more recently been supporting the team with development of longer term business plans, focused on the growth of Stride Athletics.

Our focus for 2025 will be on launching bigger and better events, gaining new sponsorships and continuing to build the social presence of Stride. Working with Stride has reignited my passion for athletics, and I am also hoping I can make some progress back down towards my very aged PB’s!

CHRIS FIFE

Business Development Consultant

“My name is Jess and I’ve been part of Stride Athletics since October last year. Based in London, I help with all events south of the border including organising the London Run Club with Lydia and Lara. Over the next year I’m hoping we’ll continue to expand the London Run Club as well as organising a few different types of events too!

Outside of Stride I have been running for seven years, with the highlight being the London Marathon in 2023. This year I’m hoping to break the elusive sub-three hour barrier in Valencia!

JESS DRING-MORRIS

South of England Events Coordinator

““Originally from the Scottish Borders, I’ve always been into sports and the outdoors. Quite quickly I found that hill and mountain running was particularly up my street, and haven’t looked back since – even when Athletics Weekly slagged off my Powerof10 PBs…

I joined the Stride team recently to help with media including videography and editing, and I’m looking forward to highlighting more stories of those involved in our sport. Fun fact: I’ve been vegetarian my whole life, except when I was a kid and ordered a cheese burger on my first visit to McDonald’s, thinking it was just made of cheese...

JACOB ADKIN

Videographer, Media Team

“I’m Alex, a Product Design Engineering student at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. I grew up in Edinburgh but made the move to Glasgow for uni, swapping one rainy city for another.

I’ve been a competitive swimmer since I was about 10, and while the pool has always been my main sport, I’ve somehow ended up surrounded by runners through my work with Stride. Photography is a big part of what I do, specialising in portraiture, architecture, and sports. Maybe one day, I’ll give in and race a Flat ‘N Fast – just don’t expect any PBs!

ALEX THOMSON

Photographer

I’m Lara, part of Stride’s London Team, aiming to spread Stride’s dominance down south! I’ve been running for as long as I can remember, having grown up racing track and cross country for City of York AC.

I now compete for Thames Valley Harriers in West London. You’ll find me at all of our London events, alongside Jess and Lydia. Stay tuned for some big things happening in London with Stride this year!

LARA STERRITT South of England Events Coordinator

RUN CLUB TESTIMONIALS

“ “

LAURA EUAN

I started running in April 2023, and that October, I saw a post on Stride Athletics’ Instagram about a new run club and decided to join. I still felt like a running newbie and was nervous about running with others, but I quickly realised I had nothing to worry about – everyone was friendly and welcoming and again after I returned to the club after surgery.

Running with Stride every Sunday keeps me motivated. The Glasgow running scene is incredibly supportive, and connecting with other runners continues to be a highlight of my journey.

Being part of this club has shown me the value of having a community cheering you on –whether you’re chasing a goal, recovering from a setback, or just running for enjoyment.

I’ve never considered myself a runner, and for a long time actively avoided anything over 15 minutes! But since I stopped playing rugby two years ago, I’ve found it’s not just a great way to keep active, I’ve also met some great people along the way.

I was surprised at the sense of community in what is often made out to be an individual sport. I thought it would be a great way to get through my longer weekend runs. It turned into a key part of my week and the group’s support through long marathon blocks played an important part in keeping me going.

The three paced groups were brilliant for marathon training, with some weeks calling for longer easier runs and others for harder efforts (It was great to be able to switch between groups each week).

I think what brings me back to Stride is that everyone is just really passionate about running. That doesn’t mean you have to be the best runner out there, but, it’s inspiring to run alongside some that are up there and others that care just as much about improving.

“INSPIRING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF ATHLETES”

“I enjoy the Stride runs because they combine socialising and getting a long run in. It’s a relaxed and casual group that welcomes runners of all abilities. One of the best things about Stride is that it means I can always recognise and compete against people I know. The post-run coffee is also a great chance to relax and chat to people.

“I had a great time running with Stride Athletics! Running through the mud, wind, and rain of the Heath, with a group of friends, was the perfect start to a Sunday morning.

Everyone at Stride is super friendly, and there’s a great mix of pace and abilities within the group. Running with Stride is a super fun way to spend the day, and catch up with friends :)

NICOLE

“I’ve adored Stride’s dash onto the athletics scene with their awesome coverage of elite racing alongside support and racing opportunities for grassroots athletes upwards.

I was not disappointed by their London Run Club, which was another celebration of the best of our sport. My Sunday long run flew by for once with a new route and the chance to meet some other runners. We also got the chance to try out some new shoes which was the icing on the cake. Thank you Stride!

“I have been loving coming out on Stride’s runs, it’s a great chance to catch up with mates from other clubs and make new ones! A special highlight was the run with Hylo, and not having to clean my shoes after going around the Heath!

ANDREW

ALEX

HARRY

YEAR IN REVIEW

It feels like we have been involved for years, but Stride Athletics is yet to turn two years old by the time we publish this first edition of The Instrider. The majority of our operations and achievements came in 2024, a year where we focused on becoming bigger and better, surviving growing pains throughout.

It wasn’t just a case of organising more events – we only had to organise one Flat ‘N Fast in September 2023 – but it was about covering more too.

We started the year strong with a trip down to Birmingham for the British Indoor Athletics Championships – the first

opportunity for us to work with top athletes from across the United Kingdom after mostly being focused on staying north of the border. Learning how the media environment worked for those unaware, was a huge part of the learning curve during 2024. While some members of the team had familiarised themselves with a mixed zone before, others had to adapt to a new space and how it works. It was as much of a learning curve for us as it is for our audience. Soon after, we were back up north, covering the Scottish National Cross Country Championships, before our attention turned to Flat ‘N Fast 2.

What feels like a lifetime ago now, we were incredibly nervous

to be better than the first event. We made it bigger, we moved it from a Friday in September to a Saturday in April, allowing more entries and more time to experiment with new features.

Our biggest addition was a junior race for under 13 and under 15 athletes, who were unable to participate in the 5K event. Adding in younger athletes comes with its own concerns and logistics –including a remeasurement of the course to accommodate the 3km distance – but any doubts over whether this was a wise decision evaporated on the day. Vibrant families rocked up to support their children – mums, dads, grandparents and siblings. Seeing how excited kids were to

RESULTS

take part in an event with a bit of spectacle will always stick with me. Laura Muir was even kind enough to donate race bibs to the podium sitters!

But what happened on the course was special too. Natasha Phillips led a quality women’s field with an impressive time of 16:16.4 and showed the standard had significantly improved amongst females. On the men’s side, Duncan Robinson was in another league to his opponents – running 13:52.3 to take the win. It was the fastest time a Scottish man has ran 5km on Scottish soil. Soon, he had American universities clamouring for his signature.

Coverage returned with the Night of the 10K Pbs in London in May, followed by the British Outdoor Championships in June, the London Diamond League in July and the Monument Mile in August. It was becoming more and more evident that our media team would need to expand and we were not satisfied with just reporting from Scotland.

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THE HOME STRAIGHT

Iwould love to say that Stride Athletics was something I had sat and cooked up over the years in my head, but it was actually something that happened by total chance.

A toilet break on a site visit during my day job as a civil engineer led me to Xcite Leisure Centre in Linlithgow, which is where I first laid eyes on a particular cycle circuit and well, it was love at first sight. After a bit of humming and hawing and eventually I decided to bite the bullet and planned to host a race which I hoped would shake up the racing circuit in Scotland.

The initial plan was simple, create a flat, fast 5km race in Central Scotland with athletes at the very heart of it.

Although initially created to fill a void in the endurance racing scene in Scotland, it became clear that Flat ‘N Fast could be so much more than just an annual 5km race and thus, Stride Athletics was born. With

an original emphasis on promoting young talented Scottish athletes, grassroots clubs and events; we were able to capture the imagination of the Scottish running community and begin to push boundaries in our sport.

Our community in Scotland is second to none and I believe a lot of this is down to the brilliant work that Scottish Athletics have carried out over the years. They have shaped a very successful, close-knit culture which has ultimately led to Scotland continuously punching above its weight in professional athletics, through athletes such as Jake Wightman, Laura Muir and Josh Kerr.

“WE WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE THE IMAGINATION OF THE SCOTTISH RUNNING COMMUNITY AND BEGIN TO PUSH BOUNDARIES IN OUR SPORT.”

We have been fortunate that Scottish Athletics has bought into what we’re trying to achieve and have actively encouraged what we’re doing through sharing content such as videos, entry links and results.

We are very grateful for the support, and I think it’s pivotal for groups like Stride to work closely with National Federations to help promote the sport both with current members and potential future members. In a world of social media, it’s so important to portray our sport positively and highlight our athletes effectively. I firmly believe that is what Stride is doing, going forward.

Speaking of going forward, I would love for Stride to be involved in the coverage of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Indepth interviews, workout videos, and backstage content could be potential avenues to explore, to bring some much-needed exposure to Scottish athletes and potentially a whole new generation of fans.

These are the kind of opportunities that are great for groups like us to collaborate on with governing bodies, federations and event organisers, to bring a fresh vibrant outlook to athletics.

We have a lot of big plans for the next 12 months and beyond as we look to bring athletics back into the limelight in Scotland and abroad.

CALLUM MATTHEWS

Founder & Head of Stride