Founder of movement attracting hundreds each week lives with past 'every day'

HUNDREDS OF ROCUP MEMBERS CAN BE SPOTTED EVERY SATURDAY MORNING IN BIRMINGHAM CITY CENTRE IN EXPLOSIVE GROWTH THAT EVEN ITS OWN FOUNDER CAN'T FATHOM, WITH HIM ALSO LANDING A GYMSHARK

DEAL 05:21, 01 Jun 2025Updated 14:48, 03 Jun 2025 The founder of a rapidly growing Birmingham movement says even he "can't fathom" the success of the club he created after

leaving prison. Rudy O'Halloran's run club 'Rocup' draws hundreds of people to Birmingham city centre on Saturday morning in search of community and "good

vibes." 31-year-old Rudy told BirminghamLive that he lives with his past decisions "every day" but is determined to show that it is never too late to turn your life around.

READ MORE: Birmingham street bans cars so children can play outside and residents say 'magic' In the two years since he started Rocup, Rudy has built an army of volunteers, secured

a Gymshark deal, and amassed nearly 19,000 followers on Instagram. "It's a free social run that happens every Saturday, no matter the weather, Rocup is an acronym for rise over

challenges," explained Rudy. Article continues below "It's a community space for everybody, all different fitness abilities, all different shapes, sizes, backgrounds it

doesn't matter. "We do a 5km run with a 2.5km option for people to stop as it's two different loops we bring music, vibes and energy." A Rocup run takes place

simultaneously in London from the Gymshark store on Regent Street every Saturday. He went on: "We started with 17 members in 2023 we're now on the verge of 300 plus every Saturday.

"We used to run every fortnight, now we run weekly. We used to run in different parks, now we run in the city centre. "There's been a lot of growth from numbers to location,

everything." TURNING AROUND FROM TROUBLED PAST The life Rudy has built for himself is far from the path he was going down at 13. He was kicked out of school in year 9, went through

three more schools and was selling drugs by the time he was a teen. At 17, Rudy's best friend was stabbed to death, and by 18 he had been shot in the leg, leaving bullet fragments that

remain in his body to this day. At 25-years-old, Rudy was sentenced to five years in prison after police found him with 2kg of cocaine. Now at 31, he credits friendship and a prison yard

routine he formed with a fellow inmate as "life changing." You can read more on Rudy's journey, here. When he walked out of prison he was determined to start a fitness

movement but did he ever think he would create this level of a movement? "Truthfully no" replied Rudy. "I think you can never really fathom how fast things are going to

happen, and I haven't really had time to adjust to it myself. "My personality is 100 miles an hour, I don't really stop and think abut things and I haven't really thought

of that. I'm just thinking about what's next." On Rocup's success, he added: "I would like to say everybody loves it, we understand that turning up to hundreds of

people might be scary, me and the team are always here at 8am every Saturday, setting up making sure that we're here and if anybody wants to turn up early for a meet and greet they can

introduce themselves. "We can introduce them to other people, let them know the plan of the day as I understand it can be daunting to turn up at 9am and there's already hundreds of

people here." 'I AM STILL AFFECTED TO THIS DAY' On how his past decisions impact his current life, Rudy said: "I am still affected by it to this day in various ways, I

was gifted a ticket to the New York marathon but at the last minute my flight got [turned down] so I wasn't able to travel to America. "It still affects me to this day, even

mentally, I still do live with my past everyday but it's something I am working on." When asked what people from his past think of his movement, he said: "It's all love,

I don't get any backlash it's a positive thing I am doing, all my old friends accept that." Alongside running Rocup, Rudy works as a fitness mentor with Birmingham

Children's Trust, University College Birmingham and children's homes. What would be his message to young people who are at a turning point? Rudy replied: "Do you know what, I

wouldn't send a message to them, but to the people who can actually have an impact on them. Article continues below "When you're so caught up in that life, when you're at

a certain age it is hard to listen to people, it's on us, to create that space, to take them out of the environment. "The thing that changed me was changing my environment, that

doesn't mean we have to send them to prison. "Why don't we create an environment for them before they to that stage, where we can help them?"