Brad and Callum’s story: Best friends run for men’s mental health

Best friends of 13 years Bradley Meah and Callum Keenan, from Priestley College, ran 200 miles in March to raise money and awareness for young men’s mental health.

Brad decided to take on the challenge of testing himself physically and mentally after he tragically lost his brother, Ben Meah to suicide in March 2023, which was the reason this challenge was based in March.

‘’When I found my brother like that, everything in my life just fell apart and from that moment on I swore to myself I would stop others from having to experience something similar to what I endured.’’

Breaking the stigma around mental health

Brad shares ‘’Throughout this challenge the main goal has been to push the message that young lads should talk about how they feel and it's clear from this challenge we’ve been successful. Dozens of young lads have messaged me and Callum on how they've started physical activities or talking to people about how they feel because of our challenge.’’

Having experienced his own struggles with mental health, Callum joined Brad for the challenge as he also wanted to encourage young men to talk or seek help if they need it.

Callum shared ‘’Lads don’t always want to talk because they’ve heard phrases like ‘man up’ and ‘don't be a baby’ all their lives and it stops them from opening up.’’

Spreading awareness, one mile at a time

Together, Brad and Callum set the challenge of running 6.5 miles every day of March to meet their target of 200. Surrounded and supported by family and friends, the boys ran in different locations everyday such as Formby and Morcambe to make the challenge entertaining and feel fresh.

Brad and Callum both believe it’s not just about raising the money, but starting conversations and spreading awareness around young men’s mental health - they believe if we talk more, it could’ve helped Brad’s brother and many more young men like him.

Brad shared ‘’The stigma around this is so ridiculous, everyone has the right to talk about how they feel. There will always be someone there to listen.’’

Callum stated “Although I’m uncertain for what is next, I am certainly excited for what is to come and raise more money for the cause and spread as much awareness as possible.”

Brad announced ‘’I will definitely do this challenge again in the future by doing something even crazier, and in doing so push my message even harder than I did this March.’’