Hello!

I hope everyone's having a bearable lockdown. Over the last two months, many of you have followed my running videos on Instagram, and a really surprising number of people have been kind enough to reach out to a) support and b) ridicule. 

I've recently hit a milestone - since I started the videos, I've run just over 100 kilometres. 'Wow', I'm sure you're thinking. 'That took an embarrassing amount of time!' That was unnecessary of you to say, but is completely valid. I am not a Good Runner™. So why am I attempting to cut that time in half by running 100 kilometres in 30 days? Have I finally reached peak hubris?

Health in Mind is a charity promoting positive mental health and wellbeing in Scotland, and they've been at it since 1982. I was already planning to turn my crappy Instagram content into something useful on their behalf, but the COVID-19 situation has made it even more important. They've had to cancel several fundraisers while continuing to provide vital support online and over the phone for people in need, especially at a time when many will be struggling with loneliness, stress and anxiety, and can use any help they get.

Literally any donation would be great. I've set a goal of £250 for the month, but whatever is raised would be fantastic and you'll be an incredibly attractive person for helping out. You can boast about it to all your friends (from six feet away) and they'll shower you with affection and compliments, guaranteed. If you donate, you can suggest a song for me to add to my running playlist and I'll do it (and run to whatever it is) no matter what. Use this power responsibly, or don't use it reponsibly. Who cares. You paid for it, so choose whatever you want. Just make sure it's on Spotify!

It doesn't take much to make a difference for these guys - £24 helps support 4 people to take part in local groups and activities, so if 24 people donated one pound, they'd be making that happen. One pound for a lifetime of smug satisfaction? I call that good value. 

If you want to follow my progress, I'll be uploading videos and updates from the runs in the usual place (my sordid little corner of Instagram, @alx1ndr) and will also be tracking them on Strava (just search my name, I guess?) if you want to make sure I'm not faking it. I've got a few options, but I think I'll start by trying to run around 8.3 kilometres, three times a week. To many of you this will sound easy, to me it sounds like one of the worst ideas I've ever had.

The 30 days will go from April 1st to April 30th. I swear to god this is not an April Fool's joke. If there are any changes in lockdown severity during that time, I'll keep everyone posted and come up with a solution. 

Thank you!!!