Simon and Lewis - Running for their Lives

On November 28th my mentee Lewis and I are running the Mount Maunganui Half Marathon together and are aiming to raise as much money as we can for the Graeme Dingle Foundation in the process as a part of their epic multi-marathon campaign: 12 - Tekau ma Rua.

I am currently mentoring as a part of the Project K programme and decided, when I heard of the 12 - Tekau ma Rua Campaign, that it would be another way to help contribute to the foundation. The 12 Campaign is another mentor's efforts to complete 12 marathons in 12 months and to encourage as many people as possible to join in their own run!

This is the second time I have done the Project K mentoring program, having found it an incredibly rewarding process about 10 years ago in Auckland… I enjoyed the experience at the time but life got in the way and I didn't think about volunteering again until recently when, out of the blue, my old mentee Ben got in touch with me, wanting to say a sincere thanks for everything I had done with him and how it had helped his life direction. He also sent me a surprise gift in the mail; this made me realise what an impact I had made and reignited my desire to be involved again.

As a result I decided to join the Project K programme here in the Bay of Plenty and was fortunate enough to get paired with Lewis.

Project K is a 14-month programme designed for Year 10 students. It involves three parts (wilderness adventure, community challenge and an individual mentoring partnership with a trained mentor). Project K focusses on building confidence, teaching life skills, promoting good health, relationships and encouraging a positive attitude. The aim of Project K is to arm rangatahi with a belief in their own ability to complete tasks and achieve goals, and to help them find purpose and direction, transforming their lives. I have seen first hand the positive effects of the programme and wished to do even more to support their work whilst also setting up a challenge for myself.

My mentee Lewis has already grown so much through our year together. He is now using regular fitness in his life, including martial arts 3 days a week, running, as well as general exercise, and the difference in him as a result is clear for all of to see, especially in terms of his self-confidence.

A key part of the process is setting goals together. When we discussed goals, Lewis mentioned he had once run 19km and I was doing some boxing at the time, some running but not enough, so the suggestion was made to both share a goal and go for a half marathon.

Having run my first marathon a few years ago now, I also needed a new goal to focus back on running, so Lewis is also helping me stay motivated. For me its also about staying on top of health and well-being and sharing that experience with Lewis. Hey, whilst Lewis has a few years, thirty in fact on me. With any luck I can show him that some of us middle aged men can still mix it up with the young guys over the longer distances anyway…😊

As it is you're meant to be 16 years old to run a half marathon, so we had to get permission from the organisers and his parents, but they have also acknowledged anything like this is only ever going to be great goal for Lewis and to be working towards something together has proven to be a really positive bonding experience, as well as extra motivation.

Many young people lack the patience and discipline required to train and run for a half marathon, so for me it's about running to share with younger generations that it’s an easy great way to stay positive, get away from screens and technology and all the side effects that come as a result of those habits - get outside and get healthy in the process.

Who knows with any luck Lewis and I will inspire others to do the same… Who knows, Lewis may get inspired to one day run a full marathon! Being able to raise money to support the amazing work the Graeme Dingle Foundation is the icing on the cake and we hope that by running we can help contribute towards getting other young people to reach their full potential.

We are running for their lives!