Having completed the West Highland ultrarun last year, raising over £10,000 for the Scottish Association for mental health. A year later brings on another enormous challenge. I’ll be attempting to complete 20 consecutive marathons in 20 days, starting off in Glasgow and the final one being the famous London marathon on the 2nd of October. You may ask why are you doing this to yourself James? The subject of mental health is something that is very important to me. Having endured several years of mental illness I find the challenges of daily life quite difficult which has led to some really dark times over the past few years. When I’m out running I feel completely different. I feel alive, more resilient and believe that I can achieve anything I put my mind to. 

But the past few years would have been a lot more challenging had I not had such a great support network around me. It’s something that I’m extremely fortunate to have and from personal experiences I believe it’s vitally important to be open and honest with the people that are close to you and you care for. Don’t feel that you need to bottle things up and deal with everything on your own. As the good old saying goes a problem shared is a problem halved.

I think everyone understands how important mental health is in today’s society and that’s why I would love for people to come and support not just me but for a cause that effects so many people. Whether that’s donating, supporting me on the day or even joining me for a couple of miles. Any help would be hugely appreciated.