Everyone’s story and journey is different, but we all have good and bad times . We are rarely defined by how we live through the good times, everyone smiles in Disneyland. It seems to be the bad times that make a deeper impression.

Without boring you with any of the gory details, I went through some difficult stages over the last 10 years. I am blessed with a loving and supportive family and amazing friends, but when some things didn’t go the way I’d planned ,I personalised and internalized it all. Even now it’s hard to explain.

I was encouraged to seek help and , with great reluctance, I did. I went for therapy. I met a CBT therapist for an hour a week for 10 or so weeks and then intermittently after that. Talking openly and honestly with a lessening fear of judgement helped me greatly. That lovely therapist subsequently moved to Switzerland, but recommended another one before she left. Again over a two year period I met her monthly to keep on top of things…and then she also moved to Switzerland !

I began to suspect that I was either paying WAY over the odds for my therapy which was facilitating my therapists’ lavish lifestyle choices, or that having had to listen to me , they needed to move far , far away.

It was at that point that I started running… not metaphorically…I actually started running. Initially I used the ‘Couch to 5 K’ app on my phone and then I joined the family of Monaghan Town Runners and it became my therapy.

In Monaghan town we have a plethora of amazing and supportive sporting clubs which are the bedrock of this wonderful community. In running clubs alone we have the Monaghan Town Runners, Monaghan Phoenix Athletic, Jolly Joggers and the irrepressible Joggernutts. And within each of those clubs are spectacularly generous and dedicated volunteers which I can’t start naming as there are so many that it would be a disservice to miss anyone. However, Leslie Crawford and Annamarie McCleary are inspirations to us all.

And if the Monaghan running fraternity were imagined as a Christmas tree, the place of the angel or sugar plum fairy on top would have to be reserved for Patricia Lee. Patricia encourages every beginner and has a smile that lights the darkness. Last year she decided to run 5 k a day in January to raise money for SOSAD, ( Save Our Sons And Daughters ), an Irish charity dedicated to the following :

1 – To raise awareness of suicide in Ireland

2 – To break the stigma surrounding suicide

3 – To provide support and direction to those feeling depressed and/or suicidal

4 – To provide support and direction to those who may know someone feeling suicidal

5 –  To provide support and direction to those who have been bereaved by suicide

So this year Ray and I decided to join her. Yes, we’re fools.

We run daily , but independently ….although Ray and I do join up most days for moral support and to take turns sticking pins into a little voodoo doll we now have of Patricia.

We’ve set up an iDonate page so our labours may raise some funds for SOSAD , you can click on it here.

We’re at day 25 today. So far we’ve each run 125 kilometres…although Patricia was struck down by a mysterious illness two weeks ago and has swam or done pilates or aerobics for 30 minutes on some days. Is it a coincidence that she was struck down at the same time as we got our voodoo doll….who can say ?

Please donate if you can.

Please talk to someone if you’re feeling low.

Please run.

And if you’re ever in Geneva and bump into two bewildered therapists called Margaret and  Bridget, please tell them I said ‘Hi’.

Toodles,

Paul