Following in her Father’s Footsteps

To mark Father's Day, Melissa Higham from Manchester tells us how special it is for her to be able to take part in BMF classes alongside her dad Gary. They'be been part of the BMF family for two years and are both now green bibs.

"It was my mum who first dragged my dad down to BMF at Heaton Park in Manchester in June 2015 and I joined them in their blue bibs two weeks later, so BMF became a proper family affair for us.  We stayed with the blues for a month and then we were both forced up encouraged (!) to join the reds, where my dad then stayed for six months before he took the plunge and had a shot at the green sessions.  I didn’t have the confidence to follow him straight away, especially when I saw him after he had finished!!

Gary Higham, 57, and his daughter Melissa, 27

It took me another six months to build up my fitness enough to push myself into the greens. I did it one night when my dad couldn’t make the session because I wanted to do it myself without him telling me what to do with him already being an ‘established’ green. For some reason people fear that green bib, and they should! Ha ha! Only joking. We're fab really.

It's funny to think that my dad had to be dragged to the park by my mum on that freezing cold rainy night. (Yes I know it was June, but it was freezing and raining.) Now it's him who motivates us to go.  He goes to the park four times a week without fail and even achieved the record for most sessions attended in our park last year, hitting 150 sessions!! He has lost more than a stone and has become so much fitter and stronger.

He is especially motivating to me. When it's dark and cold outside and all I want to do is stay at home, he is always there to pick me up and make sure I go. And even though he has to put all his efforts into his own session, he makes sure I'm feeling ok and if I'm struggling, he holds off and comes back to give me a push. I'm always so happy that he forced me to go after the session. I try to motivate him when he is feeling a bit down about his performance or finding it tough, by reminding him that he is actually probably one of the oldest members in our green group. Some of the other members are 20 or 30 years younger than him and he’s still keeping up if not overtaking some of them.

I love doing BMF with my family and especially being in the same group as my dad. We have now started doing other challenges together such as 10ks, The Major mud runs and the Prestwich Challenge. Doing exercise together is a fantastic way to spend quality time with each other as well as get fitter and healthier.  I would recommend anyone to get their parents involved.  There’s nothing like the feeling you get when you're trying to race your dad up to the Bell Tower to make sure he gets the forfeit rather than you, or making sure he doesn’t cheat on those burpees.

That's given me a good idea for Father's Day - a burpee challenge!! (I might even let him win just this once!)

Happy Father's Day!