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Tom Fairbrother had always prided himself on being a strong runner and always set goals to improve his own best times.
When he hit a plateau, a fellow runner advised him to lose weight. This runner claimed it would be the most effective way to help Fairbrother continue improving his time.
Fairbrother had never considered losing weight before. But now that someone had put the idea into his head, it became his new personal goal to lose as much weight as possible. He started by skipping meals – which quickly transformed into bulimia.
It wasn’t until Fairbrother’s dentist said that his teeth would fall out that Fairbrother realized exactly what he had done to his health.
It took Fairbrother a long time to overcome this eating disorder and rekindle a healthy relationship with his physical fitness, but once he succeeded, he took it upon himself to raise awareness of bulimia.
He wanted to show the public that it wasn’t just young girls who were susceptible to the disorder. He, as a young man in his 20s, was just as likely to develop the same issues.
Fairbrother didn’t limit his goals there. Just as he knew he could be an example of a man with bulimia, he also wanted to serve as a model of someone who had overcome their bulimia and found a new, healthy balance with their body image and fitness.
To create this image, Fairbrother decided to run ten marathons.
His tenth race: Man vs. Horse Marathon, a now 36-year-old race hosted in Wales that pits men against horses in a 22-mile course of varied terrain.
In 2016, Fairbrother was one of 630 runners competing against 60 horses (with riders).
Fairbrother ultimately didn’t join the exclusive list of humans who could run faster than all the horses in the marathon. He placed third among all the runners, none of whom beat all 60 horses, but Fairweather still outran over 40 horses and is incredibly proud of how far he’s come.
Watch a news recap of his race here.
