“I could only run from one lamp post to another!”

Finding time for fitness can be hard at the best of times, let alone when you have a full time job and a family to look after. However, one super-mum from Sutton Coldfield is showing that there’s always time for exercise if you’re committed enough. Mum of six, Julie Cope, squeezes in British Military Fitness sessions at Sutton Park while juggling a full time job and other family commitments, and even finds time to run obstacle course races with her children on the weekends. Julie and her children attend three exercise sessions at the park every week, and she believes exercising and running races together has brought them closer as a family.

Julie, a 47-year-old Management Accountant, started running when her two youngest children were just one years old. Initially only able to run from one lamp post to another on her road in Sutton Coldfield, a couple of years later Julie joined BMF and hasn’t looked back. Since starting the sessions, son Jack (17) has joined as a member, with Ben (16), Jessie (12), Ellie (9) and twins Sid and Eddie (7) all taking part in family BMF sessions and playing in the park while Mum and Jack take part in classes at the weekend.

Julie commented: “Exercising together as a family has definitely helped to bring us all closer together. Bringing children up with all the electronic distractions of modern life can be challenging, but going to BMF sessions gives us quality time together every week that’s away from a screen. Not to mention giving us great health benefits and getting us all outside and active in the great outdoors!”

Since starting attending BMF classes in 2012, Julie has used her newfound endurance to run two ironman distance triathlons, as well as running multiple obstacle course races with her six children. Julie and her children run most of the races together, which include the Ram Run, It’s a Mud Thing and the Royal British Legion Major Series, which Julie and eldest son Jack will be running together in Alcester on 12th March. As well as British Military Fitness sessions and Crossfit B76, Julie and eldest daughter Jess prepare for the races at OCR training sessions at Cliff Lakes, with Jess also training at Royal Sutton Coldfield Athletics Club.

Julie continued: “Being a teenager can be stressful these days and exercise has been a great way of helping the older kids with stress, as well as being a great mood booster. Running the races gives the children and I bonding time away from the stresses of modern life, and gives us something that is just ‘ours’. It has definitely brought us closer together – I’d recommend it to anyone.”