Ryan Hunt
Ryan's 12 Days of Christmas Marathon for Mind
Fundraising for Mind
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
UPDATE: Marathon completed in 3 hours 58 minutes! I ran a little longer distance than necessary due to technical discrepancies between Apple Watch and Strava on my phone. 4,631 Cals burned 🥵 Please see cover photo and below update for more detail.
I'll attempt a solo Marathon with just 12 days of training. It will be my first ever attempt at a Marathon, having run just a single half Marathon before. I had my first training run on 19th December and will aim to complete the Marathon on the 30th (weather and body permitting).
Prior to this I hadn't laced up my running shoes since the afternoon of May 27th 2020 for a short <2km run to Subway after it re-opened post lockdown number 1. I've played a little 11-a-side football when the government allowed it, but quickly shied away after a case of COVID in the club. I had a boxing match planned for March 2020 which was quickly called off in light of the pandemic. It's been hard to find the opportunity, not to mention the motivation, to keep my fitness and wellbeing up to my usual standard this year.
2020 has been an difficult year for me, especially for my mental health. I've lost routine, I've lost sleep, I've lost motivation, I've lost self awareness and even hope at times; all due to the direct or knock on effects of this pandemic. However, I'm aware that in the grand scheme of things I have been fortunate, especially with regards to my mental and physical health.
I want to promote giving something back to help others who have struggled through this abomination of a year. As such I have decided to end the year with a difficult target to prove to myself that I can overcome a great challenge in the face of adversity. This will involve the physically demanding feat of running a solo marathon in the depths of an ice cold northern winter with little time to prepare, no aid & a target time of under 4 hours.
I hope we can all overcome this adversity that has shaped our lives this year and may go on to shape our futures. I hope the damage is minimised and as many of us as possible can go on to live happy, healthy lives; I hope that those who struggle at times realise that there are people out there who care for them and want them to reach out for help. Mind is a great charity working towards an increasingly important cause and your money will be incredibly gratefully received and put to good use fighting the battle against the damage to mental health done by this virus.
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