Thanks for visiting my fundraising page. In my work as a consultant psychiatrist I look after people who are at risk of suicide, and who have been bereaved by suicide. I have lost patients to suicide, and been affected by it in my personal life too. It is hard for me to imagine a more traumatic thing to happen, and I want to do everything I can to help reduce the chances of it happening.
I'm not a fast runner, but I have a real love of running. I've built up a tolerance to covering long distances, seem to recover quickly, and want to use those attributes to raise money for a good cause.
Papyrus is that cause. They offer young people (under 35) means of help if they are feeling at risk of suicide, like their telephone Hope Line, and also provide training courses to help groups of people to help others who might be at risk.
I started running in 2016 to lose a little bit of weight, get fitter, and to get some headspace in my time off. I had tried to take up running before but never really stuck at it due to injury and lack of a reason to keep going. But this time I built up to 10km and half marathon races, and my times gradually got quicker. My progress levelled off a bit but then I joined my local club (Headington Road Runners) and I have made a lot a new friends who have helped me train smarter and better. My family have been so supportive and sharing my successes with them is a big reason why I keep going. My marathon time has dropped from 3:38, to 3:24, and then to 3:15. I've broken 40 minutes for 10km and 1:29 for the half marathon. I love Parkruns and have just done my 50th. I ran the Race to the King (52 miles from Arundel to Winchester) in June 2018 and now I am ready to push myself harder.
Asking you to donate money to a runner for doing a single run wouldn't be that impressive, so I have made my challenge tougher than that.
I will be running four marathons in spring 2019:
- Manchester (7th April)
- Brighton (14th April)
- Milton Keynes (5th May)
- Liverpool (26th May)
These will be hard enough, but actually they'll only be training runs for three ultramarathons that I'll be tackling in summer, known as the Threshold Trail Series:
- Race to the Tower (52 miles, 8th June)
- Race to the King (52 miles, 22nd June)
- Race to the Stones (62 miles, 13th July)
I am pretty sure this is going to hurt a lot, and it will require some careful planning, dedication and tenacity. But I hope it is enough to convince you to donate to this good cause.
I will post updates as my training and races take place so you can stay up to date with my struggles!
Suicide is the biggest killer of young people under 35 in the UK. PAPYRUS is the national charity for the prevention of young suicide and believes that many young suicides are preventable. They operate HOPELINEUK, a confidential call, text, and email helpline for young people with thoughts of suicide or those concerned about a young person who may have thoughts of suicide. Every £5 raised can help pay for a potentially life-saving contact to HOPELINEUK from a young person wanting to stay safe from their thoughts of suicide. Thank you.
