Brian Lyons has always been a runner. It gives him a sense of freedom and has become a vital part of the community he’s created in his hometown of Devonport, Tasmania.
“If you’ve had a bad day, you can stick your headphones on and go for a run. Everything is left at the door,” he said.
Brian recently marked six years of sobriety, something he says has “saved his life” and allowed him to embrace his passion for running and turn it into a thriving business.
As an adult, Brian began to use alcohol frequently and started to question its role in his life.
“I was drinking when I was happy, I was drinking when I was sad, drinking to celebrate something. Any reason to drink,” he said.
“It started to affect relationships, work, money.”
Brian tried to cut out alcohol several times, doing so for weeks or months at a time.
Each time, he would begin to use alcohol again, which prompted him to attend a rehabilitation centre.
“I was there for 18 months. When I came out of rehab the first time, it was awesome,” he said.
“Then I went to the Chicago Marathon. I look back now, and I know I was planning on drinking before the event happened.”
Brian began to use alcohol again during that trip, but months later returned to rehab and has remained sober since.
I’ve not wasted a day in these last five-and-a-bit years, and I love that. I love being truly present. It seriously saved my life,” he said.
Since he chose to cut out alcohol, Brian has formed stronger relationships with his loved ones and started new rituals to support his mental health and wellbeing.
When he was drinking alcohol, Brian said he noticed a “vicious cycle” of experiencing anxiety which was worsened by alcohol use.
When Brian left rehab, he “needed something to grab hold of” which led him to launch his own running coaching business.
What began small rapidly grew from coaching to planning running events attended by thousands of people.
“We’re in our fifth year now. We started off with 300 people at the first event and we’re getting 2000 people per event.”
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