Running the 2019 Auckland Half-Marathon for Mental Health Awareness

For a good part of decade I like many others in New Zealand have personally dealt with mental health issues and suicide. And looking back on that past decade I can tell you it hasn’t been easy. There are way too many times to count where I was tested to my limited at incredibly dark moments. And for a lot of those moments I let my mental health take control of my life. I stopped doing things that I loved like playing sport and being physically active, stopped my passion of being a filmmaker and even simply stopping challenging myself as a person. For so long I didn’t think I could get through those dark moments.

But I’m still here. With the help of friends and family along the way I’ve gotten through it all. While I’ve been through some hard times with my mental health I feel as if the journey has just made me a stronger person. Someone who wants to take control back of my life, appreciate where I have come from and wants to challenge myself again.

So a ‘brilliant idea’ came across me a few weeks back: How about I run a stupid amount of distance and time in the Auckland Half-Marathon in October? Prove that I can still challenge myself in some way. Like what could go wrong besides being overweight with a bad knee/back, never running this distance in my entire life and haven’t done anything physically competitive for many, many years.....

But seriously with this run what I want to show others who are also struggling too that their mental health does not need to be what defines them. It does not need to prevent you from reaching your goals or challenging yourself. You can get through those dark times and look towards the future.

But I’m not just doing this for my own personal reasons. I’m very excited that I’ll be running in support of the amazing organisation called Voices of Hope.

The mission of Voices of Hope is to provide hope for those struggling with mental health issues by promoting mental well-being, empowerment and recovery. To see what they are all about this is their website:

https://www.thevoicesofhope.org/

The work that Voices of Hope are doing around mental health awareness is amazing and I’m damn proud to be able to raise funds for their cause.

The minimum goal I’ve set to raise is $2110; the equivalent of $100 for each kilometre in the half -marathon. I think that’s a very achievable goal and anything past that would be a bonus. In the end all funds raised go directly to Voices of Hope.

So for the next 5 months I’m going to be busting my ass running the pavements during the freezing Auckland winter and hitting the gym to make sure I’m ready for that October 20th date. So to help motivate me over this time if you can spare some change towards this cause that would be amazing. Anything we can muster up will help Voices of Hope continue to do their excellent work around mental health awareness.

Cheers,

Brendon Kivell