Run aims to help combat depression
A MAN who says running helped him to deal with mental health problems has created a charity race with a difference.
Mental health trainer Andy Caress hopes to help people suffering from depression with Beat the Black Dog.
The 10km run, which will start from the Ogmore Valley Life Centre in Bridgend, will see a runner with a black dog, an expression used by Winston Churchill to describe depression, set off prior to the main group.
Runners will then head to off-road trails to try to catch up with the black dog and beat it across the finish line.
Mr Caress, who has had his own battles with depression and mental health, will take part in the run with his cocker spaniel Monty.
The 34-year-old from Nantymoel is raising money for the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust, where he also works as a trainer. Running has been a valuable tool for Mr Caress to help deal with his own issues, including a mental breakdown and self-harm.
Since he moved to Wales five years ago, getting out in the hills and trails with Monty has been an important part of his recovery, he said. With the new event, he wants to show the positive impact exercise can have on mental health.
“I’m amazed you don’t see more people running and walking in the valleys,” he said. “It’s such a beautiful place.”
So far, nearly 100 people have signed up for the event on September 8, two days before World Suicide Prevention Day.
“Many who have signed up have told me about their own experiences with mental health issues, or within their own families,” Mr Caress added, saying runners from a number of local running clubs had committed to the event.
The Charlie Waller Memorial Trust was set up in 1997 in memory of Charlie Waller, a young man who took his own life while suffering from depression. Shortly after his death, his family founded the trust to educate young people about the importance of staying mentally well and how to do so.
As part of his role, Mr Caress provides mental health training in schools and youth organisations throughout Wales, as well as separately studying for an MA in children and adolescent mental health.
“It is great we are now seeing more attention being paid to mental health and wellbeing, but much more needs to be done,” Mr Caress said.
“There is still a huge reluctance from children to open up and talk about how they are feeling. It’s sad to see how many kids have low self-esteem and self-worth.”
He is hopeful that the new curriculum in Wales, which makes health and wellbeing a compulsory part of learning in schools, will help improve mental health among youngsters.
“It is important that teachers receive more support and training to help prepare for this and for more focus to be given to teachers’ mental health,” Mr Caress said.
The Beat the Black Dog race will be held on September 8, at Ogmore Vale Life Centre, Bridgend. The 10k route will take runners through the village and up into one of the side trails, running through two small streams and heading up into the hills.