Lizzie’s Summer of Running (June 2017)
Why I’m Asking for Sponsorship
Hi, I’m writing this piece because I need some sponsorship, and I’m not just asking for it to make up the totals. I am supporting these charities and more importantly they have supported me, and my friends and thousands of others and we know that from our own real experiences. I’m asking for sponsorship but I also want to raise more awareness so you’ll see me training in my Mind and Yorkshire Cancer Research tops and sporting my blue headband (no more jokes about karate kid please!).
If you’d asked me a few years ago if I’d ever turned to a charity for help, I’d have replied ‘No’ and my mind would have conjured images of charities such as The Red Cross and Barnardos who give so much help to those in dire need. But recently I have turned to a charity for help and having spoken to a few of my friends, they have too. We turn to our friends and family, people with knowledge and specialisms when we are in need. When I first became really mentally unwell I went to my GP and counsellor but I also turned to Mind, they could offer a different support that I wasn’t going to get from the NHS. Friends have used Yorkshire Cancer Research in the same way, Parentline, Macmillan, Rainbow Trust….. Charity isn’t just about giving money after you or someone you know has been affected by something. It’s about making people aware that these charities are there for us and can help us when our life takes an unexpected turn.
Why I Chose Mind and YCR
Simply, Mind have helped me. I couldn’t get help from my GP because there is very little help out there for people like me who function with their depression. Mind helped me taper off the medication that was doing me more harm than good and they helped me to cope. I read the handouts from Mind and found other people’s experiences helpful.
I chose YCR because of a myriad of connections with them. They are a local charity and help local people through many different cancers.
The Back Story
Three years ago I was running the Great North Run, for the third time, a seasoned pro! I had the best opportunity to do well…..a motivation borne by a great training plan pounded through with two friends, and my brother who was going to run it with me.
On the 1 ½ hour drive up to Newcastle I cried, I wept salty tears to a soundtrack of sad tunes that I’d recently burned onto CD from my back catalogue, not a runner’s motivational playlist, more a playlist to accompany me as I wanted to run for the hills and disappear forever. Because that was truly how I felt.
I arrived at my brother’s flat, brightened by seeing him, and we walked in to Newcastle where I bought my first pair of New Balance 576 brights that would be my footwear of choice for the following years as I walked or pounded the streets trying to outrun my black dog and fuel some endorphins. We did the Great North Run but at about 6 miles I put my head down and cried in my head “I have depression, I can’t do this”. I don’t know how I finished. My cousin met us at the end and we went to get fish and chips, I was normal again, sporting my medal and chatting, but that is how the tides of depression flow.
At the same time as I was sinking ever lower, two of my close friends were going through the awful experience of being diagnosed with cancer. I cried more, any excuse to cry and the tears flowed. On our runs, my friends and I talked and supported each other.
By January I was at the bottom of my rollercoaster and I started to write about my experiences; I needed to tell the friends who were around me exactly how I felt. I wrote and I sent it around. I can’t read it back now, I was babbling but desperate to get it out there. My friends responded beautifully, some rang me up and cried, they all offered me support, but one of my friends who was undergoing treatment for cancer responded differently, she said I had inspired her to write her story, how she felt, what she was going through and so she was going to put her story out there too.
She wrote, and it was brilliant, she told everyone the things that had kept her awake at night, it was a cancer diagnosis from the point of view of a Mum and a wife. Yorkshire Cancer Research have used her writing, and we hope so much that it has raised awareness of Ovarian Cancer which creeps in with few symptoms, and she will have helped other people undergoing treatment.
And Now…..
Three years on and I am in a different place, I have my friends who have found their way through their illnesses, and I have myself back. I have ridden the depression rollercoaster and I’m off it at the moment, left with an annoying anxiety which creeps in but the big one is holding back for the moment.
I work best when I have a routine, when I have a list to tick off, a plan, a training schedule. Anything that makes me fit into some kind of order. I like a challenge, I like to pit myself against my own past achievements, and do you know, honestly, I don’t worry about how I’m stacking myself up against other people anymore so I’ve joined the Strava family too.
I’ve started to run again, and I set myself a challenge to run the Harrogate Ringway. I also signed up for the Leeds 10k and registered to run for Mind, Then I watched Mind over Marathon and the whole #headstogether thing kicked off. The programme on BBC was inspiring and so emotional, it was another example of people like me, normal people, real people and running was helping them. Inspired, I signed up for the Harrogate 10k too.
I looked online for the Great North Run, knowing I’d missed the ballot, was there a charity place I could take? Now I want to show the half marathon that I can put my mind to it and I can do it. It just so happened that Yorkshire Cancer Research were applying for more charity places and I have been very fortunate to get one.
Finally:
So, that is how I came to be running the Harrogate and Leeds 10ks in successive weekends for Mind in July, then running the Great North Run for Yorkshire Cancer Research in September.
In the last couple of months I have chosen to be open about my condition because I have had to change the way I live, interact and manage myself. Just like with any other illness of the body. I need people to be open and to talk about it. Once upon a time we lived in a world where no one talked about cancer, people underwent treatment and the family closed ranks and it was awful, the same with mental health. We should not close down, we should talk, and support each other because it is real life and it has been my life and that of my friends and family.
It would be very lovely if you could share awareness of my chosen charities, and particularly if you would like to sponsor me, please do, for either or a little for both and thank you for all the support!
