Dad’s run meant so much
Dad runs to help himself and others
A brave dad who “lost himself ”to depression during lockdown has completed a marathon challenge for a mental health charity.
Graeme McElroy has been battling mental health issues throughout the Covid- 19 lockdown, leaving his family devastated by the impact it had on the loving dad-of-two.
Looking for a way to help him deal with his struggles, the 41- year- old decided to challenge himself to complete a 26- mile run – and it has now helped turn his life around.
Graeme, from Barrhead, laced up his trainers to take part in the virtual Edinburgh Marathon at the weekend after pushing himself to train his biggest challenge yet.
Proud wife Sarah, 41, says she is in awe of her husband of 11 years for his strength to work through his mental health difficulties.
She said: “We are just all so proud of him.
“It’s an unbelievable achievement.
“He has really struggled mentally throughout the past year.
“Everything that has happened, especially with lockdown, has been so hard on so many people and it is scary how many people have been impacted by what has been going on. We both worked right through the lockdowns and I think everyone feels like they just lost so much time as everything just stopped and had to be put on hold.
“Graeme just lost himself and it was really difficult to watch him struggle.
“He had given up a bit but when he started running and training, he gave himself the space to cope with h whatever was going on in n his mind.”
Graeme, who works at t Rolls-Royce in Inchinnan, threw himself into his training to help him cope and prepared for the long-distance race over the last few months.
Having previously ran the e Glasgow Half Marathon, Graeme is no stranger to a challenge and decided d to sign himself up for the Edinburgh event this year.
However, when it looked d like the run would not take e place due to covid, Graeme chose to take on the virtual l race to raise money for a good cause.
He has now raised £2,080 for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH).
Sarah was out cheering him on as he pounded the pavements on Saturday to complete the run, alongside his sons Ethan, nine, and Harry, five. And when he got to the finish line at their home, he was greeted by family and friends with banners congratulating him on his effort. There was even a specially-designed cake for the occasion.
Sarah added: “Graeme has always been a bit of a runner but when lockdown hit he stopped for a long time. He has worked so hard and has done all of this by himself, which is just amazing.
“It has really helped give him a lot of thinking time over the last year and he is in a much better place.
“He had no idea we had arranged the surprise for him and we had friends who we have not seen since the beginning of the pandemic come and celebrate with us, which was amazing.”
To donate to Graeme’s marathon fundraiser, go online to https:// www. justgiving.com/fundraising/graeme-mcelroy and make a pledge.
He has really struggled mentally throughout Wife Sarah