Harris' Run Up To Christmas

The Harris' Run Up To Christmas is a running challenge which will consist of us doing a run everyday of December up until the 25th, getting progressively more difficult as we go along. Day 1 will be a 1km run, the second a 2km run all the way up until a 25.25km run on Christmas Day, taking our total distance to 325.25km. This converted is 202.2 miles representing 2022 which is fast approaching, and we hope for a happy and healthy year.

We've chosen a running challenge as it tests our physical and mental endurance, this goes hand in hand with our chosen charities. Joe will be running for Mental health organisation - Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and Lauren will be running for The British Heart Foundation. We both have reasons for our chosen charities and will go into a bit more detail below.

Joe:

I have chosen to run and raise awareness for CALM because I want for everybody to realise how big of a struggle mental health is for so so many people. If you know who I am, you will know I am not the most outgoing, popular or confident person there is and I have come to realise over the last year how crucial mental health is to maintaining a happy life. Years 7-11 I felt almost a bystander and did not live my own life, I was simply just fitting in and going with the flow of life. Later on throughout higher school and into Sixth Form my circle shrunk and it was as friends started leaving and going on their own life journeys I realised I needed to take more control and walk down my own path . Doing this though opened my eyes, and doing my own thing made me realise how difficult life could be when your in tunnel vision and following a crowd, only for the crowd to disappear. During the first lockdown from March to the beginning of July I had a part time job working night shifts in a supermarket. Even though I was enjoying it and earning money in my first job, I was damaging my mental health without even realising. Working from Midnight to Midday or even early afternoon made me almost nocturnal and absolutely killed my social life. Furthermore it really had a negative impact on my school work, coming home halfway into the day and sleeping when I was supposed to be working, essays and coursework were building and the stress was overwhelming. I was emotionally and mentally drained and life was exhausting. This was probably my lowest point during lockdown and not being able to see friends and extended family did not help the situation. I come to realise that I was not okay, and needed to get back on track and take off my mask. I finally reached out to people including family, friends and people at work, whom had no idea because of the character I had been playing for the last few months. With support and advice I decided I had enough and needed to focus more attention elsewhere. I changed my shifts at work and reduced my hours, I focused hard at school to catch up on coursework and tried to achieve some sort of A-Levels, which I did and got into University. For me most importantly was gaining back some sort of social life, with a group of mates. Every lunchtime we would be dying at lunch and laughing at the most stupid shit you could imagine, pebbles... I can not stress enough how uplifting this was after a national lockdown. We often talk so openly about mental health in our group, which I would love every group to be able to do. Without people there for me, I would still be struggling, sometimes I still do because everybody has down days, but talking with people is always ALWAYS the best route to take. This is why I have chosen to run for CALM, because I know that not everybody has someone or a group of friends they are comfortable with talking to, but CALM allows people this opportunity and outlet. Mental health matters, and always will.

Lauren:

After unexpectedly and prematurely losing a close family member last year, I have decided to run for the British Heart Foundation to raise awareness for cardio vascular health. The heartbreaking events of last year that effected me and my family opened my eyes to the importance of a healthy heart, not only for myself but for those around me. Our family was left devastated, heartbroken and shocked at our loss. The British Heart Foundation's campaign to beat heartbreak forever really focuses on the emotional support provision to those going through a similar situation to that of me and my family. The campaign also targets the scientific research efforts to ensure the amount of people and families effected by heart related diseases are minimised. After experiencing and witnessing first hand the emotional impact the loss of a loved one can have, I decided to take action! I have been working hard to keep a happy, healthy heart since. There is no doubt this challenge is going to be brutal! A physical and mental challenge which will test our limits, for two great causes close to our hearts. So, unlike Joe I do have some (albeit minimal) running experience; however with experience comes age, an advantage Joe definitely has, and always will have over me!