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'I raced at London Olympics now I run YouTube channel with over 750k subscribers'

EXCLUSIVE Andy Baddeley raced at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics before setting up hugely-popular The Running Channel in 2019

[Great Britain's Andy Baddeley (front) leads heat 1 during the men's 1500m semi-final at the 2010 European Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona]

Andy Baddeley was a professional athlete who competed at two Olympics(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Andy Baddeley raced at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics but hes probably better known to YouTube fans now. Baddeley took part in the 1500m in both Beijing and London, reaching the final in China where he placed eighth. It was semi-final heartbreak four years later at his home Games, but now the 40-year-old has a new passion.

It still involves running with Baddeley co-founding and now CEO of The Running Channel which has over 750,000 subscribers on YouTube as well as thousands more on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

"I quietly just stopped running altogether in about 2016, because I didn't have to do it anymore, Baddeley said. Id made the decision to retire, but I didn't announce my retirement.

"I fell into a job at a small media agency, and myself and the owner of the agency had a conversation.

"I had basically had a year where I just didn't run at all after I retired. So 2017, I didn't run at all because I didn't want to, I hated it. I had no interest in running at all.

[British Olympic gold medal winning athlete Greg Rutherford (L) and Andy Baddeley (R) wave to the crowd during the London 2012 Victory Parade for Team GB and Paralympic GB athletes]

Andy Baddeley was part of Team GB for London 2012 Olympics(Image: Getty Images)

"But then towards the end of that year I started getting a bit itchy and a bit like I felt unfit and I missed it. So I started running again, and was rediscovering why I loved running in the first place.

"As opposed to it being my job and everything about my earnings and self-worth hinging on three minutes a year.

"The two of us decided to, to set up The Running Channel."

And what a decision it has been.

[Andy Baddeley]

Andy Baddeley previously held the world record for Parkrun(Image: The Running Channel)

The Running Channel, or TRC as it is commonly known, was only set up in 2019 but already reaches viewers in 120 countries while plenty listen to the weekly podcast, too.

Theres something for everyone on the YouTube with a team of presenters who vary in running ability, pace, and goals.

"We thought there was an opportunity ultimately to help people, Baddeley continued. "I got asked so many questions during and after my career about how to go about certain things.

"I didn't really know anything about media or or running production or video or anything like that, but I did understand how to talk to lots of different runners and lots of different abilities.

"We founded The Running Channel, and actually I never planned on being on camera or on mic or present at all.

[Andy Baddeley]

Andy Baddeley helped set up The Running Channel and now co-hosts a weekly podcast(Image: The Running Channel)

"I just thought I'd be behind the scenes, I had no skill set or training in that world.

"We went about trying to just put normal people on camera and talking to people about running in a relatable authentic way and never shying away from the fact that actually running is a bit s*** sometimes.

"You feel sweaty and you get red in the face and you don't always feel brilliant about your body. Sometimes it's raining, you don't want to do it at all.

"That was the main thing - just to be realistic about it and to tell people, 'yeah, I didn't do it today because I couldn't be bothered' or work got in the way or I cried at the end of this run or I got injured.

[Andy Baddeley]

Andy Baddeley is a regular in front of the camera on The Running Channel - though that was never the original plan(Image: The Running Channel)

"That's what underpinned it all - trying to be normal and real people and authentic. And not lie about running in a kind of glamorised way."

Running received a boom during the covid-19 pandemic as plenty used their limited time outside to lace up the trainers and go for a jog.

Parkrun is the first event many runners take on, and though its not classified as a race, some certainly get competitive every Saturday morning.

The current Parkrun world record is 13.44 set by Nick Griggs last November, though Baddeley was previously the worlds fastest. He set a time of 13.48 at Bushy Park just days after racing in the Olympics.

"It's a good metaphor for The Running Channel," Baddeley said. "How do you make something super relatable?

[Great Britain's Andy Baddeley reacts after the Semi Final of the Men's 1500m at the Olympic Stadium on day nine of the London 2012 Olympic Games]

Andy Baddeley reached the semi-finals of the London 2012 Olympics(Image: PA)

"If I was to talk to people about the Olympics, there's a level of being impressed, but also 'well, I'm never going to go the Olympics, it's another world.' If I run 5K in the Olympics, people would know that Parkrun is 5k but still switch off a little bit.

"But as soon as you say, I've run an X for Parkrun, then they're like, 'oh', and then you can have an hour conversation with a complete stranger about this shared experience, even if I've run 13.48 for Parkrun and they're running 35 minutes.

"Bushy was brilliant. Achievement wise, I'm much more proud of what I achieved on the track, but in terms of actual experience and something that stuck with me as a lifelong memory...

"That day, 2012 August, it was during the Olympics still, over 1000 people there. I got a really lovely cheer on the start line, and again it's back to that running community.

"It was amazing having 80,000 people cheer for me in a stadium but somehow less personal. Whereas having 1000 people being genuinely buzzing and hanging around for photos afterwards and high fives and hugs and chatting to people there, that's what I love about running.

[Andy Baddeley poses for a portrait during the Aviva funded GB & NI Team Preparation Camp on July 20, 2010 in Monte Gordo, Portugal]

Andy Baddeley represented Team GB at two Olympics(Image: Getty Images for Aviva)

"My semi-final was on the Sunday or the Monday and then the following Saturday, so like five or six days later, I did the Parkrun.

"My coach and I talked about 14 minutes, which was the record at that point. No one had ever gone under 14 minutes.

"He set off and he was on his bike. He was in front of me, but he was a good 20-30 meters in front of me, and he was just shouting, 'this is the pace, this is the pace'.

"It turned out afterwards that the watch hadn't worked at all, so he had no idea, he was purely going off his own personal judgment of having coached me for 10 years.

"I actually ended up running faster because he's a better judge of my ability to go to my max."

[Andy Baddeley poses for a portrait during the Aviva funded GB & NI Team Preparation Camp on July 20, 2010 in Monte Gordo, Portugal]

Andy Baddeley was one of the best 1500m runners in the world(Image: Getty Images for Aviva)

In recent years, Baddeley has dipped his toe into the pond of long-distance running, taking on Valencia Marathon in 2023 before having to pull out of Decembers Malaga Marathon due to injury.

As we near Spring, a new marathon season begins with the Brighton Marathon taking place on April 6, while Manchester and TCS London Marathon both run on April 27.

Baddeley wont be on the start line for any of those, though he insists he will get back out for another attempt at 26.2 miles.

"Valencia was amazing, but very humbling," he added. "I was one of the best 1500m runners in the world, but that doesn't instantly translate to the marathon.

"I ran a time (2:53:49) which I know a lot of people would be happy with, but I was nearly an hour slower than the best marathon runners. That puts it in perspective.

"I do want to do another one because I didn't really feel like I did myself justice. So I want to do a bit more training and see what I can do.

"If you told me when I was retiring from elite sport that I would be motivated to run a marathon, to run the times that I'm trying to now for my personal benefit, like nothing to do with anyone else, just for me, I'd be like, 'why would that motivate you because it's so much slower than what you've been capable of'.

"It took me a couple of years to go full circle where I had to come to terms with I'll never be able to do what I did before. But now I take pleasure in the improvement of week on week or month on month and then almost this New career for running in my 40s where I'm not comparing myself.

"I used to do everything in miles, minutes per mile, and I do everything in kilometers now because then I'm not directly comparing to my kind of former self

"There's little tricks like that. Then I take pleasure in the motivation and the buzz that I get from just consistent training over a few weeks and months."

Follow The Running Channel on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Or visit The Running Channel website

The Brighton Marathon takes place on April 6

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