Why Run?

Kate turns 80 this year. Together with her sister Hilary and their friend Ros, who are both in their 80s, they have formed a highly personal running group called The Old Crones. A lifetime of friendship and around 40 years of shared running experience are membership requirements. The Old Crones are a very exclusive group indeed. Through their group, The Old Crones share their runs, provide support and encouragement and meet up at events when they can. They now...

My guest today on Why Run? is Hasan, who works in finance - a career renowned for its high pressure and stressful lifestyle. In 2010, Hasan quit a job after months of long hours, little managerial support and mounting corporate demands . At the time, he had no other job to go to, but knew that 'a line had been crossed' and that he needed to leave work if he was to protect his mental health. In 2017, a friend Hasan hadn't seen for many years commented that he had "ballooned", as a r...

Mark White founder of Run Grateful - a movement that links gratitude with movement. On this episode, Mark candidly shares his story of how he went into rehab for drug and alcohol dependency at the shockingly young age of 18. At the time, he didn’t want to go, but once there, rehab gave Mark the opportunity to reboot his life: to get clean; to make new friends; and to learn about the importance of gratitude. Mark started running more than ten years ago and, over...

In her 30s, Annie Simpson experienced birth and loss - both of which have very much influenced how she approaches life today. Desperate for a baby, Annie was told by her consultant in her mid-30s that the only treatment for her fibroids was a hysterectomy. Annie loved children, had always dreamt of becoming a mother, and the thought of infertility was devastating. "Every time someone got pregnant, I'd get tearful and think 'why not me?' 'what have I done?' and it go...

At the end of 2021, life took a dramatic turn for Jen and her family when her five-year-old son Eashan started to lose his sight. After extensive tests and an emergency scan, Eashan was diagnosed with a chromozone disorder - neurofibromatosis or NF-1, which will make him susceptible to internal tumours growing within his nervous system for the rest of his life. The reason Eashan was losing his sight was because he had a tumour on his optic nerve. For 18 months, &...

My guest today is Vicki, who developed an eating disorder in 2011. This was a particularly busy and stressful year for Vicki with lots of changes going on in her life. She moved area, she got married, she started a new job and she struggled to cope with all the changes. Initially, restricting her eating and focusing upon food gave Vicki a sense of control over her life, but it wasn’t long before she realised the eating disorder was controlling her and not the other way round...

Jane Dennison is the founder of a running club for beginners in Manchester called the Mile Shy Club. She is passionately committed to helping others to discover the benefits of running and walking - because running has been such a vital part in her own mental health journey. When Jane was younger, she experienced profound poverty, loneliness and depression. As a teenager, she was homeless and lived on and off the streets for several years before being hospitalised at 18 due to men...

Tony started running in his mid-40s to improve his physical health and fitness...only to discover he was rather good at it. Having always been competitive, he was soon entering events and went on to complete marathons in under three and a half hours. Five years ago though, Tony experienced a sharp pain in his groin and on investigation, was told that he had terminal prostate cancer and was given two years to live, as the cancer had spread to his spine, neck and skull. Such p...

Nita started running about ten years ago at the age of 48. At the time, she was severely depressed and found it difficult to even summon energy to get dressed or clean her teeth. It took Nita 20 weeks to complete the nine-week Couchto5k programme, but she did it! Since then, Nita has gone on to complete many long distance events, including half-marathons, marathons and ultra-running events. Nita is diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and and she now describes running as one of the key el...

As a boy, Shakil was obsessed with football. He loved to play, but was routinely overlooked and excluded from playing for his community team. The criticism and rejection led to feelings of low self-worth and he lost a lot of confidence. In his mid-20s, Shakil's friend introduced him to running. "I used to think it was boring, but it's changed my life." Shakil says the difference between the football and running communities is like "the difference between night and day". Through Adidas Runn...

Karen is a bright, loud and funny secondary school teacher. She currently teaches English and Performing Arts and when she retires next year she plans to have a go at stand-up comedy. "I love performing to an audience," she says. Karen has also experienced some very extreme lows in her life struggling with depression and anxiety. One episode, after the birth of her son due to post-natal depression led to her being sectioned. Karen was a county athlete and...

Steve used to go to a local running club, but being slow, he always finished last. The experience left him feeling humiliated and low, even though he went on to complete numerous running events, including the Brighton Marathon and Great North Run. At the end of 2019, Steve split up from his partner and then came COVID. During lockdown, he decided it was time for a rethink and last year, he set up Norwich Social Joggers. "At Norwich Social Joggers, everyone starts together and ...

Seven years ago, Denise adopted a three-year-old little boy. Like all children who are placed for adoption, her son had been through traumatic early life experiences. One of the impacts of this, is that he finds it difficult to handle change. So when lockdown was announced two years ago, it had a hugely negative impact upon him. For a single adoptive parent like Denise, the combination of lockdown, home schooling and home working was challenging enough. But in addition to this, ...

When Graham was in the army 20 years ago, he used to enjoy a game of poker with friends. Gradually though, over the years, his gambling increased, and five years ago, it had taken him to a very dark place. By 2017, online poker and fruit machines led to debts of around £40,000 on credit cards that he was unable to pay and his marriage was on the rocks. He couldn’t see a way forward with life and seriously considered suicide to escape the constant demands and lies. Through counsel...

The National Running Show's CEO Mike Seaman talks to host Diane Church for this special bonus episode of Why Run? Mike plays many sports, but he says it's running that provides him with the headspace he needs to manage his role at Raccoon Events, which organises ten major international events for outdoor activities each year. Mike talks about how he can have a tendency to "overthink" his work and how running helps him to slow his thoughts and clear his mind. Mike loves trail r...

In October 2015, Tracey’s life was changed forever in a split second when her 21-year-old son Josh was killed in an unprovoked knife attack. For four years, her grief felt largely on hold as she fought through the Josh Hanson Trust – a charity she set up - to bring her son’s killer to justice. How does the body react to such extreme trauma? How do you start to rebuild your life?There is very clear evidence that when someone experiences extreme trauma, the body - as wel...

In the summer of 2020 after the first COVID-lockdown restrictions were lifted, Coco met a new guy. The relationship developed quickly and intensively, as they’d both been on their own for three months. It soon became clear though, that things were not good. He became controlling about how she looked, what they ate, what they did. On one occasion, he was physically violent, and it was then that Coco ended the relationship after four months. But events were ...

Sarah is a mother of four, a cafe manager, a recovering alcoholic...and a runner. Why Run? explores the mental health benefits of running and in this premier episode, Sarah speaks candidly and emotionally about her slow descent in to alcoholism over ten years and how running has been a key element in her recovery. A front-of-house manager at a top London restaurant for many years, Sarah's problems with alcohol escalated after she and her family moved away to live in ...

Why Run? is launching on March 7th 2022. This trailer is a taster for the first series, which will explore the mental health benefits of running. Host Diane Church started running to get physically fitter, but it has been the mental health benefits that have kept her getting out there each week for the last three years. For more details, visit: www.whyrun.uk If you have a story to share, get in touch with host Diane Church at: contact@whyrun.uk Thank you for listening today. Fo...