1,000km of running for men's mental health

Hello friends!

As some of you may know, next year I’ll be taking on the challenge to run 1,000km in one year for the charity LIVIN. Partly to raise funds but, more importantly, to raise awareness about men’s mental health.

One of the reasons I’m running for LIVIN is because of how much their tagline really hits home for me:

“It ain’t weak to speak.”

Unfortunately, there’s still a huge misconception that it’s a sign of weakness when a man suffers from, or talks about, poor mental health.

Those who know me know that I absolutely hate long distance running. But not as much as I hate needing to lie about why I had to call in sick or cancel plans.

Or having to laugh it off when someone says "Maybe you just need to man up!"

Or saying, “Yeah, good mate!” instead of admitting that I’m not.

Or finishing sentences with, “but I’m sure it’ll be fine!” when I’m really terrified that it won’t be.

Running 1,000km will be very, very hard. But not as hard as having the courage to speak up.

And I hope that when I finish, it will be with the same sense of relief as taking that first step to ask for help.

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