November Challenge: With friends Matthew Evan and Jason Jones

CAREW’s Dan Mumford set himself a challenge at the start of 2015: to run 2015 miles in the year.

At nearly 39 miles a week or an average of 5.5 miles a day, it was going to be a serious test, but Dan had a great inspiration for trying to achieve this incredible feat, raising money for a cause close to his heart. Dan was raising money for Mind Pembrokeshire after suffering with depression for a number of years. He has found running to be of great assistance in helping him to regain control in his life, but he also wanted to do something that he felt could help others in the same situation: “Something had to be done to get people talking, to help others like me who couldn’t talk about it, to make people aware that they do not need to settle for poor mental health, to show people that they can achieve great things and to raise awareness of the help that is out there.”

A target was set to raise £1200 for Mind Pembrokeshire to help train a member of staff to become a Mindfulness Practitioner, at the end of the challenge just over £3000 and counting has been raised which will pay for all the staff to receive the training, which will benefit everyone who attends in the future. Dan is very open about his own battle with depression, saying: “It all began years back when I slipped deeper and deeper into depression. “Despite being a Gym Instructor and also a PTI in the Territorial Army, I stopped exercising. I struggled to socialise, my weight increased and my marriage was struggling under the pressure. “The emptiness of the depression left me feeling nothing, well apart from the worthlessness that I felt. I was suffering but felt too ashamed to discuss it, I felt that no one would understand and it got worse. “I started on medication, which numbed me further, I struggled with Neuralgia and other conditions which made the problem worse. I ended up on the sick for months.”

But then the breakthrough came when a good friend suggested he should go out running with him: “I hadn’t run for years, but I always loved running. Running used to make me feel relaxed and the benefits of running were almost instant. I could feel something, even if that something was pain and discomfort. “I kept going, with a fair bit of help and persuasion from my wife and a good friend. Slowly, things just seemed to get a bit easier. I returned to work, lost weight and the pain started to drop off.

“That was three and a half years ago and here I am recapping my 2015 challenge.” But how did Dan go from running to ease his depression, to raising thousands of pounds and completing a remarkable challenge? “I contacted my local Mental Health Charity, Mind Pembrokeshire. We discussed my challenge and what I aimed to do. The funds raised would go to pay for the whole team to be trained as ‘Mindfulness Practitioners’. “Mumford & Runs was born, I laced up my trainers and off I went. I signed up to a few races including the Born to Run 40 mile Ultra.”

“I had to run long in training. Running 30 milers on your own is tough, so I organised a tag-a-long run. We would run from Tenby to Mind Pembrokeshire in Haverfordwest and people could join in where they wanted. Around 30 people joined me that day, most of them had a story to tell, and they felt safe to talk with me, as I was so open with them. The miles flew by and we soon arrived at Mind to a warm welcome and cake!” When the day arrived for the 40-mile Ultra, Dan was inundated with messages of support on social media and through his dedicated page ‘Mumford and Runs’.

He flew through the marathon point with a personal best time, and he kept on going well, finishing in 4th with a time of 5hours 28mins, which set the tone for the year to come. Dan entered numerous races over the course of the year, including the Manchester Marathon, Swansea Half, Tenby10k, Wales Marathon, Ealing Half & Cardiff Half. He worked extremely hard to get ready for every race, and wanted to go faster every time, which he achieved. Although he ran in all these high profile events, Dan’s favourite event was one that was dubbed ‘Mumford’s Mile’ and was ran alongside The Autism Centre at Pembroke School: “We arranged a sponsored 1 mile run, as running helps to calm and keep the youngsters active. We set off on the route, some running, some walking, but everyone had a smile on their face, and this is what it is all about!”

Continuing with the community events, Dan helped set up the Carew Running Club which aimed to get people of the community get out running and the club has helped numerous people to achieve their own personal goals, with many people who have never ran before having taken part in 10k and half marathon events in the last year. However a year of non-stop running, as you may expect didn’t always go according to plan. The challenge had it’s pressures and this pressure at times affected his mental health, as he struggled to fit in his weekly miles and missed out on time with the family.

“Racing took it out of me and left me unable to run for days. I suffered a couple of injuries and illness too. The challenge was almost out of reach at the end of October, meaning I’d have to run 9 miles a day every day until New Year’s Eve. I had to do something and this is when I decided to do the November Challenge. “This was to run an extra mile every day in November. If I completed this it would bring me right back on track, but it would be tough. There was no guarantee I could finish it and I didn’t! “On day 23 the weather was awful, I ran in the morning outside covering about 12 miles of the 23 I had to cover that day before heading to the gym to finish off the remaining 11 miles on the Treadmill. I was feeling good until the arch on my right foot started playing up. I thought it was going to tear. I dropped the pace and nursed it to the end.

“On day 24 I got up out of bed, my foot throbbing from the 140 miles I had ran in the last 7 days, double what I’d ever done before. I couldn’t risk carrying on, and with my 2015- mile challenge under threat. I pulled out.” He did however recover in time to complete his challenge, with his children joining him on their bikes to help him get through the final miles; his daughter even dragged him out on Christmas day! “Boxing Day I went out on my tod and quietly crossed the finish line of my personal challenge. It was meant to be the following day at Carew Fun Run but I thought to myself, this is about “Doing more, talking more and Going the extra mile.” So that is what Dan did.

Over 130 people gathered at the Carew Sports Club for the Annual Charity Fun Run to support Dan and run the extra mile together. So Dan completed his remarkable challenge with 5 days to spare, and in the end ended up running 2020 miles in the year, but he couldn’t have done it without some key people and organisations: “It has been a journey that has created a bit of a buzz, started some conversations, raised awareness of our great local charity and raised a good sum of money too. I owe great thanks to everyone who has supported me all year long, especially those who fundraised under Team Mumford & Runs, WP Lewis and Son who sponsored my travel, Feel Good Inc. for collecting and doing the ‘Bungee off the Bridge’, Tees R Us for kit, Carew Club for all of the fundraising and Pembrokeshire Leisure for collecting and donating prizes.

“The biggest thanks has to go to my wife and children who continue to support me every day and put up with my coping mechanisms.” If you would like to donate to Dan’s cause you can online at http://www.everyclick.com/mumfordruns. For more information on Mind Pembrokeshire you can go to http://www.mindpembrokeshire.org.uk . You can also follow Dan’s new blog at www.mindrunner. co.uk or on Facebook or Twitter at either ‘Mumford and Runs’ or ‘Mindrunner’.