Sam & Duke have set themselves the challenge of completing "The 4x4x48 Challenge" (set by David Goggins). 

The challenge will require Sam & Duke to run 4 miles (6.44km) every 4 hours for 48 hours. This will mean having to cover a total distance of 48 miles (77km) via 12 individual runs during the challenge. 

The 4x4x48 Challenge starts with their first run at 4am on Saturday 6th March and will finish with a their final 4 mile run at midnight on Monday 8th March. 

We are raising money and awareness for OCD-action primarily as OCD is a very mis-understood condition that effects 1-2% of the population. It is debilitating and paralysing. People with OCD experience intensely negative, repetitive and intrusive thoughts, combined with a chronic feeling of doubt or danger (obsessions). In order to quell the thought or quieten the anxiety, they will often repeat an action, again and again (compulsions).

One of the greatest challenges that people with OCD face is the need to fight both the all pervasive stigma of mental health disorders and the widely held belief that OCD is a mild or even “quirky” problem that is nothing more than hand washing. Many people now use the term “a bit OCD-ish” without understanding the onerous nature of the disorder in its severe form.

Duke Al is a spoken word poet and hip hop artist from Cardiff. From a young age, he began to suffer with relentless intrusive thoughts, where he felt the need to perform rituals and compulsions repetitively to ensure that the intrusive thoughts would not happen. He as like many OCD sufferers, hid this from his family and friends for years, dealing with it alone. Duke Al says ‘OCD is a complex mental health illness with many forms, where a deeper understanding is needed, it is time to talk about mental health and break the stigma that is heavily attached to OCD.’

Duke Al will be releasing a music video from his upcoming debut EP 13.03.1994, the track is called Lonely, a song about how he used to use alcohol to battle his OCD as a negative coping mechanism. Duke Al will be releasing this on Sunday 07.03 during this endurance challenge to portray a unique look into his mind when suffering with OCD, ‘I create to relate and educate, relate to those who are going through certain challenges in life, such as mental health illness and I want to educate those who may have not understood these illnesses before, so they understand, as understanding very important. Read his story on his post on social media:
Instagram- @dukealdurham
Facebook -@dukeal

““Writing rhymes is my therapy. From a young age, I’d scribble raps and poems in my old lyric book. It was my way of expressing myself; an escapism to challenge my OCD. A passion of words, flow and rhyme flared. Now I aim to make an impactful change using words, one rhyme at a time.” – Duke Al Durham

We hope by raising money and awareness, people will better understand OCD and enable better support for those who have the disorder.

Any donations for this cause will be greatly appreciated!

Ps.. if you want to track our progress we will be posting updates on our Instagram pages which are @sammiddlemiss & @dukealdurham