About MBRB – Move Better Run Better

Who are Move Better Run Better?

Move Better Run Better was set up by GB International runner John Beattie, and the purpose is as follows:

‘Empowering runners to fulfill their true desires – Both in running and life’

Much of the coaching is based on John’s own career as international athlete where he has spent many years learning from the worlds best athletes, coaches, and practitioners.

As of 2024, Move Better Run Better has now coached over 300 hundred runners around the world to life-changing wins. This includes within running, with hundreds of personal bests. We also pride ourselves on our clients wins in life – Job promotions, feeling more confident, following their dreams, and showing up better in their family lives.

Just like as athletes do, we like to push ourselves as a business, and are delighted to have won a number of awards in the years since we started.

2019 – Bassetlaw District Council Dragons Den – Winners of £5000 business grant

2021 – North Notts Business Awards – Micro Business Of The Year, Winners

2021 – North Notts Business Awards – Improvement Through Tech, Winners

2022 – Starling Bank ‘Taking Flight Competition’ Winner of £5000 business grant

2022 – North Notts Business Awards – Business Person Of The Year, John Beattie

Meet The MBRB Founders…

John Beattie

I found running in an attempt to get out of my sporty younger brother’s shadow. When doing sports, he was always the one who dominated and everything. I on the other hand was the one who always tried hard, but never made it towards the front of anything. I wasn’t happy about this and wanted to find my calling.

Somehow, I found myself entering the Great South Run 10 mile road race in Portsmouth, and as a 16 year old with no formal running training ran a time of 59 minutes 35 seconds, finishing 75th out of the 10,000 runners.

That was it… I immediately became hooked. To cut a VERY LONG story short, 20 years of many ups and downs later running has been my life. Highs of representing England at the Commonwealth

Games, finishing in the top 20 of the London Marathon, and winning a gold medal at the European Cross Country Championship. As well as lows of horrible injuries, giving everything then missing targets, or being wheelchaired away from my first marathon – it’s safe to say I’ve been through it all.

After turning my passion into profession and becoming a full time coach, I’ve now coached hundreds of marathon runners around the world to smash PBs and achieve things they previously thought beyond them. Whether that be good for age, championship qualifying, sub 3, or sub 4, one of the best feelings for me now is seeing everything come together for people when it really matters.

Lilly Adkins

I started out as a sports massage therapist and soon realised that I wasn’t fully helping to solve runners’ problems as most weeks they would come back to me with the same tight areas, aches and pains. Whilst massage helped, it wasn’t resolving the weaknesses and imbalances that was causing their tightness, aches and pains in the first place. I knew the only way to fully resolve this was through strength & conditioning training, so I decided to get qualified and became a strength and conditioning coach.

On a deeper level, I understand how tough it can be when your body is holding you back from what you love doing. I spent 10 years in daily pain, the sports I loved doing- running and horse riding would often cause the pain which had a huge impact on my performance, but more so on my mental health and confidence, which had a knock-on effect in all other areas of life- work, relationships, my motivation.

After some investigation, it was decided at 24 that hip surgery was the only solution to stop the pain. I had an impingement (bony lumps on the head of the femur), labral tear and damaged cartilage. I was massively disappointed that after 8 months post-surgery I felt no improvement was made. With a second surgery booked I hit the strength and conditioning hard (so that I would recover quicker post-surgery) and got a coach to help me stay on track through the challenging times. Amazingly in just 6 months I was 99% pain free and decided not to go ahead with the second surgery.

Another big lesson learnt was to never let others (no matter what their profession or title) put limitations into your mind. At 18 I had a horse fall which resulted in 15 pins and 2 plates in my right ankle. I was told at the hospital that it would never be same again (ok, so a little less range of movement) and that it would hinder my performance in sport for the rest of my life and that I would have arthritis at a young age. Well, they were wrong!

I do not want you to go around in circles like I did for 10 YEARS before finding the right solution. Let’s be honest, there’s a lot more to running than just running. It is often your only ‘me time’ in the day away from stressful work, family and other commitments. My main aim for you in this challenge is to help you get the most fulfillment out of your running, remove those limitations and smash your targets or goals. If I can do it, you most certainly can!

Meet The MBRB Team…

Coach Jules Scudder (3rd from right) – An MBRB coach as well as an MBRB athlete. Currently well on her way to achieving the 6-star marathon majors medal, Jules had a fantastic 2023, smashing her PBs across ALL distances. She works with many of our female runners, and has a particular interest in helping women who are going through the perimenopause and menopause.

Coach Tom Boardman (3rd from left) – is a Great Britain international athlete who continues to compete to this day for his club Leigh Harriers. Like John, Tom competed as a student athlete in the American NCAA system, whilst on an athletics scholarship at the University of Butler. Tom has coached for MBRB for the past 4 years, helping many athletes to PBs, qualifying times, and England Masters teams.

Coach Jan Bailey (Far left) – Took up running in his early 40s, but has made rapid progress since then. From a 24-minute parkrun starting point, Jan has progressed down to 15 minutes, and is now one of the top V45 runners in the UK across a full range of distances and events. He has represented England Masters on many occasions and joined the MBRB coaching team in 2023.

Dani Kempson (2nd from left) – Whilst she mostly operates behind the scenes, Dani is our wonderful assistant and is responsible for ensuring many of the day to day operations of MBRB run smoothly.