We'd like to introduce our team of Miles For Mind ambassadors for 2019 who all have a reason to be a part of our virtual event and who want to highlight that #MentalHealthMatters.
Name: Dave Sinclair
Location: Cardiff
When did you start running and why?
I started about 7 years ago as a way to get my blood pressure and cholesterol down and lose a little bit of weight.
What's you favourite ever running experience?
Finishing the world half marathon in Valencia just as night was falling, with people cheering in the stadium and the amazing scenery was very special. That’s quite hard to beat.
Taking the long route up a local hill called Twmbarlwm is my favourite running experience, and I can do it whenever I want. The views are amazing, and the hill was visible from most of my childhood homes - I never thought back then that one day I’d just run up it and cycle up it. FOR FUN. I would have called you a liar if you’d tried to say one day I’d be doing that! Now I also find it a really beautiful place to remember my mum.
If anyone wants to come and run here with me let me know!
Who most inspires you in the world of running and why?
Paula Radcliffe is incredible, I just admire the sheer determination and precision of her achievements in road running.
I’m a massive fan of Scott Jurek and Kilian Jornet. It just seems to be second nature to them - I’m not saying they don’t work hard, they do, but they just seem born to run.
Finally, Ben Smith of the 401 foundation. A wonderful person.
What one bit of advice would you give to a new runner?
Take your time building up your running. You want to be running 40 years from now, not just next week. There’s honestly no rush. It can be a lifelong passion.
What does the link between running and mental health mean to you?
Running keeps me at or above a baseline of well-being where I feel good about life, the universe and everything - and that’s despite whatever challenges come along.
To me it’s a preventative - the last year has presented me with lots of different worries - financial, career, pernicious bullying in a previous job, and on top of that I lost my beautiful dog Eddie, who’d been with me for over 10 years - this really knocked me for six.
Finally and worst of all in the last few weeks I have lost both my mother and father. Despite these awful things running has enabled me to keep going and to do so in a reasonable manner - I experience real sadness about these things life throws at me but also I must say I still enjoy things in life and day to day I experience great happiness, pleasure and fun.
Part of achieving this is just my nature, part of it is my amazing friends, but a big part of it is running, plain and simple 😀 - it helps stop natural sadness potentially becoming something more to be concerned about.
In the circumstances, I think that’s pretty impressive 😀
What do you hope to get out of being involved with Miles For Mind?
Mind is an incredible organisation so first of all just being able to spread the word about Mind and help raise money is really important to me.
I really hope and want to get loads and loads of mates into our team: Mind, Body and Sole.
Secondly, I really saw the sense of community and togetherness with @redjanuary, both with the wider community and with my group of friends who did it.
I want to continue that feeling of togetherness with Miles for Mind and I think we can take it even further. I heard from friends how much doing January meant to them, and what they were talking about was the sense of togetherness working towards a common goal. I want to do that again, only even more so 😀
I want to help play my part in making mental health an ok topic to talk about.
I hope to meet some great people doing this and have some great social runs with them, helping to spread the word and enjoying each others company.
I can’t wait!!
For anyone who is considering signing up for Miles For Mind this May, entry is now open here and we'd love you to join in and raise money and awareness for the charity Mind!
Team runr.
Click on the logo below to visit the Miles For Mind 2019 page!
