I have never run a half marathon, or even a 10k.

I have 4 weeks to train, and double the length of my first tentative long distance run in about 2 months, which was 5 miles before my lungs gave up.

4 weeks to double my race distance. I guess that's possible, most of what I see online says 8-12 weeks of training before attempting a half. Challenges are supposed to be a challenge, right?! And this is part of the reason why I would welcome any donations!

My reasons for running this race and raising money for Second Step is that although I am glad that as a nation, we are beginning to discuss and be more open with the topic of Mental Health, (such as the #ITSOKAYTOTALK campaign - hence the picture above) there is still a lot more to be done.

Second Step helped to support my friend Phill who committed suicide coming up to 6 years ago now. If I didn't have a support network of friends and family who I could talk to openly about my feelings afterwards, I would have struggled even more than I did. Some people aren't as fortunate to have that support network for whatever reason, and Second Step supports hundreds of people in the South West with mental health issues, helping them by offering housing, support and hope.

I also work at NHS111, where we routinely deal with people on the phone who have mental health issues. It's frustrating to feel that there is only so much that we can do, and in this day and age mental health funding and support should really be equal to our physical health.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, and thank you for any donations.

Kane

http://www.second-step.co.uk/

https://thecalmzone.net/itsokaytotalk/

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.