What it's like to run for APP
'At the start of the year, I fancied setting myself a challenge, so I signed up for the Great North Run. Rather than applying through the ballot, I chose to raise money for Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP), a small mental health charity which had been supporting my wife.
APP accepted my application and asked me to raise £250, which sounded achievable. The charity said it had two other free spots left, so I convinced my sister-in-law and her boyfriend to join me.
I hadn’t run for a few years and getting back into it was hard, particularly navigating the hills of Caterham where I live. When I began training, I ran out of puff after a couple of miles, but I pushed myself to go a bit further each week. The charity had sent us all fundraising packs, including a snazzy vest, and encouraging emails, which motivated us to keep at it.
APP’s professional fundraiser Fliss had also asked me why I had chosen to run for her charity. Postpartum psychosis is a rare and serious mental illness that my wife had suddenly developed just before our daughter was born. I told Fliss my wife had used the charity’s peer support network during her recovery. She said the charity hosted a similar service for partners and gave me the contact details for Simon, who organised it.
I had resisted speaking to anyone about my experience of my wife’s illness previously. After all, it was she who had been put through it, not me. I am also an introvert and, perhaps like a lot of men, prefer to deal with things myself than ask for help. A big reason why I wanted to run again was to try and control my rising daily anxiety.
But Fliss was friendly and her introduction to Simon made speaking to someone seem less scary. So, I chatted to some of the other partners through APP’s network. While our experiences varied, I was relieved to hear them echo a lot of my thoughts over the previous months and I felt less alone.
By race day, my fellow APP fundraisers and I had trained hard and were ready to take on the half marathon distance. We were less prepared for the north east weather and briefly regretted our decision to take part when we stood in the pouring rain on the start line.
But as soon as we set off, the adrenaline of taking part in such a massive fundraising event kicked in. 60,000 people of all ages and abilities were running and thousands more braved the elements to cheer us on. Hearing a total stranger call your name when your joints are aching with lactic acid is one of the best pick-me-ups going.
One odd thing I saw was these tunnels every few miles that sprayed water on you as you ran through them. A year earlier, there had been a heatwave, so a refreshing shower might have been welcome. But running in the heavy rain, as I was, I could not see why so many people were still using them.
The final mile along the South Shields coastline was particularly spectacular. The rain had eased off at this point, you could smell the sea air and the packed crowd’s applause carried you to the finish.
When you cross the line, you wonder what to do next for a moment as the realisation of your achievement sinks in. All the early morning starts, protein shakes, injury concerns and ice baths finally put to one side. It doesn’t matter what happens now because you’ve done it.
I grabbed my medal and free refreshments and stood looking at the beach as I waited for my wife and our friend to find me. Then the adrenaline wore off and I was freezing cold so I headed for a busy tent where a band called the Gatecrashers were warming up.
As I struggled to get phone signal among the crowd, a man started talking to me. I thought it was just an affable Geordie at first but he explained that he had previously run for APP as his wife had also had postpartum psychosis. We chatted for a few minutes about our experiences and shook hands. It felt nice to be part of a small community in the middle of a much larger group of fundraisers.
My wife thankfully arrived with my jacket and we soaked up the atmosphere with my fellow APP runners. We grabbed a beer and some food before braving the crammed metro train back to where we were staying.
The best thing was that the three of us had more than tripled our fundraising targets. Thanks to many surprisingly generous donations, we raised over £2,300 plus gift aid.
I had signed up initially to raise money to support new mothers like my wife but had become an APP beneficiary myself along the way.
Perhaps just as important, I was given two shiny medals that can keep our baby daughter entertained for a good few minutes.'
If you feel inspired to take on a challenge for APP like Rob, check out our events page here or email Fliss for more info.