Leaders Spotlight : Ed Bellin
In our 10th year of sweating and connecting we are sharing stories from our dedicated and passionate volunteers.
Introducing Edouard Bellin, founder of FitFam Hong Kong, a global citizen who started his FitFam journey in Shanghai, creating our infamous ‘On Empty Streets’ running group, then moving to Hong Kong and taking FitFam with him.
Tell us about yourself
I was born and raised in France but grew up obsessed with New York and generally the outside world. I taught myself English at a very young age so I could connect with it which I eventually did right out of grad school, working in New York for a year until life took me to Shanghai after a failed attempt to get the work visa lottery in the US once my 1-year internship had expired. One of my very good friends at the time made a PowerPoint with 10 slides on 10 reasons why I should go visit him in Shanghai, so I booked a one-way ticket, and loved it so much that my initial 2-month stint on a tourist visa ended up being 2.5 years in that wonderful city. I’ve since lived in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand and it’s now been over 9 years in Asia. I still have the PowerPoint.
Your first FitFam workout
By pure chance (or meant to be?) I was having dinner with my friend Ryan (the guy who made the PowerPoint) one night and I was sharing my slight frustration with gyms because, at the time, I found them boring and lonely. Turns out this girl named Katie was sitting a couple of tables next to ours and had overheard our conversation. She came over as she was walking out of the place and asked us if we’d heard of FitFam… we’d said no, she said it’s a cool group of crazy gals and gents who love to sweat and meet together at the break of dawn to work out. I asked when the next one was - she said “tomorrow morning 6am”.
We said “f*ck it, let’s go.”
This, I believe, was a Wednesday morning workout with Katie, Edita and maybe Igor - the OGs. This was the first time I’d heard of - let alone actually done - any burpees. I fell in the love and started coming 2-3x a week.
This was late Feb 2017 at Jiao Tong University.
By that point I’d been in Shanghai for about 6 months on and off, and while I’d made some connections and friends here and there, both through Ryan and other means, I immediately felt connected with FitFam… something I genuinely hadn’t felt before. To be able to combine my love for training with a bunch of down-to-earth people who loved doing crazy shit was my vibe. And the leaders were always inclusive, attentive but also super fun to be around. The early wake-up calls were never that hard knowing I was joining friends every time (minus the few times I’d be back from clubbing at 4am… the joy of my 20s I can’t handle anymore)
The FitFam Impact
We might need a podcast episode for this, I could ramble on forever… I feel like a synthesis of its impact on my life wouldn’t do this impact justice but I’ll give it a go.
First and foremost, obviously the friendships - of all ages, cultures and walks of life. When you’re part of a community that’s centered on a mutual interest such as fitness, you get to meet SO many incredible people. The crazy 5am runs I used to take them on (which is still happening to this day thanks to the amazing volunteer team that’s kept it going all this time since), the amazing challenges we were all part of, all the social events… more importantly for me, it was an unfortunate incident I experienced that took me to the hospital and had me locked up for weeks that showed me the incredible power of community - so many of my close (and also relatively more distant) friends from FitFam came out in full force to support me mentally, emotionally and financially through this darkest phase of my adult life… that I’ll forever be grateful not just for them as a whole but for the love and care the FitFam community brings out in people.
Second, leadership. Fairly soon after I’d started joining the workouts (I want to say 2 months in?) Edita had asked me to start co-leading with her. We made a really good pair, and being part of the leadership volunteer team really brought out traits I didn’t realized I’d had. Through these experiences I’ve learned how to lead with authenticity but also character, bringing out a mix of fun, dont-take-yourself-so-seriously vibes but also genuine care for proper form and getting the whole crowd engaged. Thanks to this early experience in Shanghai, I was able to bring it to Hong Kong and start the FitFam community there from scratch, and it’s since thrived (to this day) with thousands of members on Meetup (close to 9,000 members as of 17 Sep, 2025). At its peak before people started moving on from Hong Kong, we’d grown the volunteer team to 17 strong leaders. I love them all and am so proud of the growth they all experienced from participants to leaders of the whole community who were able to take the torch and keep it growing - and I’ve learned so much from them as well.
Third, creativity and space for trial and error. Back in Shanghai, after a couple of months of leading workouts “full-time”, I launched a new hybrid mini-community called “On Empty Streets”, combining runs + short workouts at different parks/parts of the city. That was a huge moment for me - the first time I’d started something and was seeing actual traction, especially considering we started the runs at 5am so we could get to the Bund right on time for sunrise. Which speaks to how amazing this community is… while most people would make fun of anyone wanting to do 5am ANYTHING… FitFammers show up in numbers. Because, honestly… why the f*ck not?!
I also loved coming up with new creative ideas for the workouts - whether it was how to utilize all the public space we had for our workouts, the games to keep people engaged, the playlists and how I timed the movements and workouts to the rhythms and beats of the selected songs… it all came together so beautifully that I look back on these times as some of my life’s truly fondest moments.
Pure bliss.
And finally, it really amplified my extroverted side… I always had a pretty good balance of both sides - like I love to socialize with people but I also have my dont-talk-to-me moments where I just want to sit in my cave for a few days. But every time I led a workout, I felt at my absolute most natural and best. It felt so natural to me to be rallying people together, screaming, making jokes, running around the whole field to high five every single person who joined the workout while they were running back.. that I’ve kept so much of this energy with me since.
Becoming a FitFam leader
Edita came up to me one morning during a workout and asked if I wanted to try co-leading with her. At first I felt super self-conscious about the idea of going from “just show up and suffer” to “go in the spotlight and make them suffer” (friendly suffer of course). I think the usual process would be to start with the warm-up and stretches while the core leader would take on the main workout portions, then as Edita and I got more comfortable with each other, she gave me more of the portions.
I mostly stuck to Jiao Tong. I’d sometimes venture to a couple of other locations, but the Jiao Tong crew always felt like my home. That’s why when I launched the 5am Empty Streets runs, the initial meeting point was right outside JT. Then as the sub-community grew rapidly, we started having 1-2 more meeting points and we’d all reconvene at the first workout spot.
Being a leader gave me access to amazing resources within the fitness world that to this day serve me so well - from actual physio experts who gave us the right mechanics for movements, to workout structures, learning how to get people engaged, etc. Forever grateful for all the leader trainings FitFam has hosted over the years.
On a more personal level, I also grew more confident from the confidence people instilled in me as a leader. I think that positive feedback loop - and being entrusted with their own experience - offered so much flexibility and excitement to always test new ideas and have fun with this whole process.
Why become a FitFam leader?
First off, I think it’s important to be honest about the fact that it’s not for everyone. If it doesn’t feel right to jump from participant to volunteer leader, don’t force yourself into it. That process should feel natural, exciting (and yes scary but good scary). But what I can say with absolute confidence is, getting out of your comfort zone and being “out there” in front of people will be SO invaluable to all other aspects of your life.
If you feel ready to start this journey, it’s important find an experienced leader to shadow and support at the beginning. Keep it small - it can just be taking the group of a warm-up jog around the field and leave it there for now. Or get them warmed up. Whatever you feel comfortable with at the start, then over time, through consistency and also familiarity (i.e. people get more used to seeing you leading them), you can add more.
The chemistry with your co-leader is also very important. Not just for your own experience as a new leader, but for the crowd you’re leading. Half the workout experience, in my opinion, is in the vibe you’re projecting and creating. And that vibe comes out of the chemistry you have with your partner. Some people just come for the gruelling sweats, but many come back for the energy you put out and the culture you’re creating.
Next, commitment and consistency of schedule… Like I said, leading isn’t for everyone if you’re not ready to commit to the times. The jump from participating to leading is a big one - when you just participate, you can come in and out whenever you want. But when you choose to lead, it’s a time commitment - to prepare the workouts ahead of time, and to commit to showing up every week (or however often you lead). That’s a big factor in creating that sense of community and culture I mentioned above. People need to feel like they can rely on you.
Lastly: do it for the right reasons. Be honest with yourself as to why you want to lead - and that honesty will show to your group as well. But also remember that this should NOT feel like another corporate job… At the end of the day, you’re a volunteer, it’s an add-on to your existing life, and the whole experience should feel joyful, not dreadful. Enjoy the process 🙂
Favorite Sweat and Connect moments
I’m a little biased since I started it with Sergio back in mid 2017, but every Empty Streets run we organized was always a new adventure. The fact that within just a few weeks we were able to go from 8 people on the first one to over 40 participants (it helped that it was summer time), showed how unique this group of people was/is. The perfect timing of the sun rising above the Lujiazui skyline as we got to the Bund for stretching; the brave souls who still came out in the winter in the snow and rain; the creative group photos we took on the Bund (the Darth Vader one is my personal favorite); the one time Cory and I “warmed up” at the night club till 4am to then go straight to lead our run club at 5am… so many lifelong memories I’ll never stop replaying in my head.
Anything else you would like to share?
I feel proud to have been part of this amazing community way back before run clubs started being the coolest new trend. And so proud to see it thrive to this day in all the cities it has since expanded to - in Asia, Europe, and in the Americas. I’m forever grateful for everything I learned over the years, for all the lifelong friends I made, for the trust I was given to lead, for the Hong Kong community I was so incredibly proud to have started and even more proud to have seen grow thanks to the amazing leaders we have on the ground.
So much love for FitFam. ❤️
Join FitFam Hong Kong https://www.meetup.com/fitfamhongkong/events/