Mo Bro's Josh and James Complete 150 Mile February Running Challenge
Throughout February Joshua Willis and fellow football companion James Pomeroy set out on a gruelling mission to run 150 miles each – and we are over the moon to report that they succeeded. That’s 300 miles run in the name of Movember to promote the message that men’s mental health matters.
On average, 4 out of 5 suicides are men - and for men under the age of 35, suicide is the biggest cause of death. James and Joshua wanted to raise awareness of these facts and get men talking – because talking really can make all the difference.
" “[Football] something to do every single evening and when you wake up and there’s nothing to wake up for, it is hard to stay focussed and you definitely struggle with that.” "
As football fans – indeed James plays for Stratford Town in the Southern Premier League Division Central – the lads have been playing regularly 4 or 5 times a week since the age of 5 and find the sport a great release. However, due to lockdown and COVID-19 that release has been taken away from a lot of people, which has meant reduced connection. And as football and sport is such a large part of a lot of men’s social lives – including James and Josh – they both understood what people were going through and knew they wanted to do something.
So, to combat that and to keep them focused they came up with the challenge: Run 150 miles each in the 28 days of February.
At just over 6 miles a day, it would keep them active, benefit their fitness and mental health and help them raise funds and much needed awareness for men’s health. If you check out their Instagram page @mensmindsuk you can see they boys’ journey, find some inspiration and even spot Josh sporting a neatly trimmed moustache (always good to get some practice in for Movember).
We’d like to say a huge congratulations and massive thank you to James and Joshua for their incredible efforts and completing the challenge. The Movember community is made great by people like them and we are honoured and privileged that they have given us their support and time.
There’s still time to donate to the lads’ cause and help them reach their £2000 target. Check out their JustGiving page. All funds go to Movember and towards supporting innovative world-class men’s health projects in our key focus areas – prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health, and suicide prevention.