Run4Rene: more than a running club or a support group in East London
This Saturday morning we had the pleasure to meet Stefanie Stavri who shared with us what is Run4Rene and how it has impacted her life.
Running has huge benefits for our physical health, for sure. But exercise is also great for our well-being and our mental health. This is one of the main reasons why in East London, a group of people meet every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning to run a few kilometres and talk, if they want to, about their mental health issues.
Run4Rene is the name of this initiative that was conceived during the past summer in memory of a man that committed suicide. In their website they state: "we are a community of people taking steps to raise mental health awareness and fighting the stigma that steals young lives."
According to Stefanie Stavri, who is a frequent member of Run4Rene, "some of us have lost people to suicide or we suffer ourselves from mental health issues" and found that support groups could be too strict. Instead, running in the nature and together with people who might be experiencing a similar situation is an appealing alternative for them.
Stavri added that one remarkable thing about the club is that "it gets you out of bed which for a lot of people is actually really hard when you are suffering from a mental health issue."
She confessed that she did not consider herself a runner and even found it difficult at the beginning but also admitted that it has impacted her mental health for good: "as you can go longer and longer distances, you feel that you are in control of your mind, you feel that your mind is getting stronger but also the endorphins are quite addictive so after a good run you feel great and you look forward to the next run."
Yet, the underlying byline of Run4Rene is to help raise awareness about suicide, which highly affects male population in the UK. The Office for National Statistics has found that around three-quarters of all suicides in 2016 in Great Britain were committed by male. Suicide is the number one cause of death between 40 and 44 years old in the country.
This year, Run4Rene has raised £20,000 for the Campaign Against Living Miserably, from CALM Charity, which seeks to reduce male suicide in the UK.
You can find the whole interview with Stefanie Stavri in our Facebook page.
