Thank you for visiting my page.

When embarking on this challenge my plan was that between September 2014 and August 2015 I would run over 800 miles and 12 races to raise funds for Sevenoaks Area Mind.

Sevenoaks Area Mind is a local independent mental health charity covering the Tonbridge, Edenbridge and Sevenoaks area.  It provides a range of support services to people suffering with a mental health problem. More information about the group’s work and projects is available at www.sevenoaksareamind.org.uk. 

You may well ask why a 63 year old Grandad, would take on such a challenge!  The answer is simple.

An astonishing 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem in the course of a year and need help and support.  Mental illness is insidious. It can destroy otherwise wonderful people and have a distressing and sometimes devastating effect on their families. Yet sadly, ignorance and even stigma and silence still exist around mental health issues; problems that Sevenoaks Area Mind is tackling in a number of ways including supporting sufferers and their families and raising awareness.

Mental ill health includes depression, anxiety, eating disorders, bi-polar, phobias, and behaviours such as self-harm, suicidal thoughts and panic attacks. It spans every strata of society and is no respecter of persons. Winston Churchill suffered a lifetime of depression, Spike Milligan was a well known bi-polar sufferer, Mind’s President, celebrity Stephen Fry, is a lifelong bi-polar sufferer, and sadly in 2014 we learned of the death of that great actor Robin Williams due to his mental illness.

I too have a life-long experience of depression, and I am a runner. Running is known to help with wellbeing. The endorphins released while running attach themselves to parts of the brain responsible for emotion. The more endorphins released, the stronger the feeling of euphoria.  Taking advantage of this ‘runner's high’ has a number of mental health benefits and can help change desperately black feelings. Running also releases serotonin which is a natural mood lifter.  For a person struggling with depression, stress, or lethargy, running is a great way to naturally raise their spirits and release the negative energies associated with their feelings.

So I run. However I don’t usually run quite so many races as I plan to be doing over 2014-15! My aim is to run the equivalent of one race a month, which at my age means I will be feeling permanently tired!  But it will be well worth it as I am doing this to raise awareness of mental health and running to raise valuable funds for my local mental health charity, Sevenoaks Area Mind. And I will be visiting groups to talk about my experience of running, mental health problems, and the work of Mind. If you would be interested in booking me to talk to a group, I would love to hear from you. Please drop me an email at Ray.Ellis@sevenoaksareamind.org.uk.

My experiences are recorded in a blog: ‘Ray’s Running Commentary’ keeping you abreast of the highs and lows of my running year. The blog is at: www.RaysRunningCommentary.tumblr.com. Please do look in and follow.

The races I have run so far are:

2014

• 1:         September 7th     Weald St George’s 10k                 6.2 miles
  
• 2:         September 28th   Tonbridge Half Marathon            13.1 miles
  
• 3:         October 19th        Highway 10k, Orpington              6.2 miles
  
• 4:         November 8th       Poppy Half Marathon, Bexhill      13.1 miles
  

2015

• 5:         February 8th         Wokingham Half Marathon          13.1 miles
• 
  
• 7:         March 16th            Sevenoaks 10k                             6.2 miles
  
• 8:         March 29th            Paddock Wood Half Marathon     13.1 miles

• 10:       June 14th              Staplehurst 10k                             6.2 miles
  
• 11:       July 5th                  Bewl 15, Bewl Water                     15 miles
  
• 12:       August ??              Sevenoaks 7                                    7 miles

• 6:         February 22nd      Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon   13.1 miles
• 
  
• 9:         April 12th              Brighton Marathon                      26.2 miles

I am immensely grateful for Up & Running, Sevenoaks for agreeing to be my kit sponsor for the year's challenge.

Another important facet of my running year is my employment with Sainsbury’s Supermarket in Sevenoaks.  Sainsbury’s selected Sevenoaks Area Mind as their charity of the year for 2014-15 and are incredibly supportive of my running as part of that partnership. Thank you Sainsbury’s Sevenoaks!

Thank you so much for donating: your support is vital and is greatly appreciated.

Ray

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.