Visitors to Stamford Bridge recently might have been surprised to see one Blues supporter running laps around the stadium repeatedly. It was a feat which was also documented on social media and Strava, the running app which recently partnered with Chelsea.

That supporter was Benito Mottoh, in the latest event combining his two passions – Chelsea and running.

When people helping an eight-year-old Benito following the death of his mother introduced him to Chelsea, they sparked a lifelong love of the club, which would later see him joining the staff as a matchday steward in the Matthew Harding Stand.

At 23, when his father fell into ill health, Benito took up running as a healthy outlet, before deciding to combine those two passions after his father later passed away.

‘When people go through difficult times, it can be tough, and sometimes it can take a negative toll on a person mentally, physically, all types of ways,’ explains Benito. ‘Losing both my parents, it was kind of a make or break situation.

‘But I said to myself: “this is the turning point in my life where I need to make things happen. What are the things I love? How can I combine them both?” I wanted to do something to get my mind off things and keep healthy.

‘When I was going on runs I'd just pick up my phone, turn on the camera and just start recording. I started doing runs from Stamford Bridge to Arsenal, Stamford Bridge to Tottenham, just all around the stadiums in London. It started picking up a fair bit of views, I started getting interaction from it, people were liking the series.

‘So I was able to turn a difficult time into a positive. It was obviously a tough situation, but it's life and you have to respond to these things and learn from these things that shape who you are.’

He began documenting his runs in the hope that others going through difficult times could see what he was doing and be inspired to use their own passions to find an outlet. When his runs began to gather attention, he took things further by asking people around London for the club they supported, to pick the final destination of his next route from the Bridge.

When he saw Chelsea linking up with Strava, where he regularly tracks the routes of his Blues-themed runs, it seemed a perfect opportunity for him to celebrate his two passions with something a bit special to share on the app.

‘Initially, it was supposed to just be a lap around Stamford Bridge, to see how fast I can do it,’ he admits.

‘But because of the love that I have for the club and my love for running, and just to show my gratitude for what they’ve given me as it felt like a full circle moment for me, being a Chelsea fan and working at the Bridge, I decided to do a half-marathon instead!’

Of course, completing a full 23.1-mile half-marathon-distance run on the short track around Stamford Bridge presented its own challenges, not to mention raising a few eyebrows among those witnessing his repeated laps.

However, the curiosity, support and encouragement he received from those at the stadium helped him stay motivated, while his passion for running and Chelsea meant completing his Stamford Bridge half-marathon was its own reward.

‘Obviously when I've done long-distance runs before, it's from point A to point B, and it's a bit easier because you're seeing different things. But when you're running around repetitively, it gets to a point where it's like: "Oh, not another one”. So mentally it was actually quite hard, because you’re running around in circles.

‘One thing that kept me going is a lot of the staff members from Chelsea. They were walking around the stadium, thinking: “What's this guy doing?” and asking me: “how many laps is this?”

‘Knowing that they were part of Chelsea, it was kind of like a family feeling. Some of them asked why I was doing it and I was able to explain to them and they congratulated me. So it was hard but that was a nice feeling and kept me going.’

With Chelsea now partnered with Strava, supporters around the world can also join the Blues family by sharing their own running exploits with their fellow fans.