The Mums Behind the Magic
Having been given the opportunity to cover the social media of Craven Energy, I was excited at the prospect of watching Jonny and Alistair Brownlee competing at the Skipton Multi Sports Festival. Their do-or-die approach to running has always astounded me and I’m captivated by their stamina and resilience. However, the person who had the biggest influence on me that day was neither one of the Brownlee brothers.
I decided to run to Aireville park as a recovery run before I started to photograph and film at the event. Tasking my mum with her role as general dogsbody, a role that she relishes with zeal, I asked her to meet me at the bridge before the entrance to the park.
14km later, I arrived and my mum was chatting (as usual) to one of the marshals. She’d discovered that Jonny Brownlee was about to finish his first triathlon with the 5k run (he was completing 3 triathlons back-to-back) and he was approaching the bottom of the park. But as we stood waiting patiently, we clocked a lady who was frantically searching inside her black rucksack.
‘You think he’d know better,’ she said. ‘Is there a shop nearby?’
We discovered that the lady was Jonny Brownlee’s mum and the bag belonged to Jonny. The search was for water! He hadn’t packed any.
We gave Dr. Brownlee two bottles of water much to her relief and got chatting. Even at 36 years old, Jonny had still tasked his mum with carrying his bag, looking after his bike and being his top cheerleader at the event. As he rounded the corner, she presented him with the water and off he darted at impressive speed up the hill towards the finish line.
But as I got talking to her, I realise that whilst athletes are pretty impressive people, so are their parents. It was lovely to learn that Alistair gained A*s and As in his A-levels (in facilitating subjects like Maths) and gained a place at Cambridge to study Medicine. Yet, Alistair’s parents supported his decision to study Sports Science at the University of Leeds instead. His desire to pursue sport was much stronger than his original decision to become a doctor. They didn’t insist on Medicine; they allowed him to pursue his dreams and his ambition. In the same way, they bought him a bike to cycle from Horsforth to Bradford Grammar because he didn’t like taking the bus. They took him swimming from a young age and encouraged him to join a running club.
Every decision, every dream, every hope, supported by their parents.
Alongside this, parents of athletic children provide the taxi services, cook their meals, clean their kits and offer endless amounts of time standing on the sidelines in all kinds of weather.
That day Dr. Brownlee had plans to clean her house, but one call from Jonny meant that she abandoned her plans to stand in a park in Skipton quietly supporting her sons. What a legend!
And Dr. Brownlee won’t be the first or the last. Those parents who drive their children around the county (or country) carrying their bags, providing water, clapping fervently, offering words of encouragement, they deserve medals too.
Alistair Brownlee may have won the Skipton Multi Sports Festival, but Dr. Brownlee won my heart.
And after asking about me and my hopes and ambitions, I think Dr. Brownlee probably realised I was a little lost. She thanked me for the water and walked up the hill like a mum on a mission, then she turned around and stopped abruptly. What followed was the best piece of advice I’ve received in a long time. She said, ‘Don’t worry if you don’t know what you’re doing yet, life is a marathon and not a sprint.’
Relief washed over me like the crest of wave. Mums like Dr. Brownlee are the true heroes of the world of sport; the podium should have a place reserved for them too.
