Two years ago we lost a close friend to suicide.

Markus was one of our best friends.

He was always there for people, his personality and actions meant you knew you could always rely on him whatever the scenario, whether it was to make you smile, listen to you and provide advice or simply be himself and make you feel at ease around him.

Sadly we did not know the struggles Markus was going through, much like most men don’t know about their fellow colleagues, friends or family, because we are ‘too proud’ or ‘tough it out’.

Globally, the rate of suicide is alarmingly high, particularly in men. Too many men are ‘toughing it out’, keeping their feelings to themselves and struggling in silence. Help us stop men dying too young.

We are running the Manchester Marathon to raise funds for Andys Man Club.

ANDYSMANCLUB want to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and create a judgement free, confidential space where men can be open about the storms in their lives. They aim to achieve this through weekly, free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups.

We are running to remember Markus, to keep his memory alive, to encourage people to recall their stories of him, remember the good times and the bad, laugh and cry. All these stories and memories are what we’re using to get us round, we know he’ll be watching and we want to make him as proud of us as we will always be of him.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.