Running Through Barriers

I am excited about racing for D2E at UROC 100k. They are a non-profit who assists individuals battling depression/anxiety so they can overcome obstacles in their life which can become debilitating over time. D2E also promotes the idea of ending the stigma of these often not talked about issues to create more openness and awareness, and trying to make it more comfortable for these issues to be discussed. It is also a project I can personally relate to which is why I came onboard. I am from Greenville, North Carolina. I have been athletic my entire life, an off and on runner through the years, love the outdoors, and have battled with depression and social anxiety for some time. I feel that running, ultra-running especially, has helped in curbing my depression and social anxiety by allowing me to channel the negative feelings into something positive and overcome some of the dark places and fears that accompany those mentally paralyzing issues. I took up running seriously in April of 2017, and it has blossomed from there with the help of various friends, mentors, and my family’s support. I am motivated by pushing the limits of myself beyond what I thought was possible, meeting people and seeing things I otherwise would not have been able to experience, and am also attracted to the competition and the camaraderie of running against other runners, some of which have battled the same issues as myself. Besides a workout or the competition of it, I feel I get an emotional/anxiety release from running that relaxes me far more than most other things I have tried. Some of those things being positive and others negative.

I started out running for health as I became older, then it progressed to the typical 5k race, and I then took a hiatus. About 4 years ago I started back running, but was at a weight of 220 lbs. from power lifting and disregarding everything else. It was eye opening when I went for a run and could barely make it 1/10th of a mile without stopping since I’ve never had this issue before. From that point on I vowed to not let myself be in that position again. Over those 4 years I have discovered that running has also helped me deal with stress, depression, and social anxiety issues that ‘working out’ just did not cure. There are other variables that have helped me deal with these issues, but running long distances has played an integral part in addressing those issues and allowing me to be able to talk more openly about them.

I am looking to raise $635 dollars that will go to D2E for further work. I chose this number because it is related to the distance of 63.5 miles that I will be running on May 12th at UROC. 100% of proceeds go directly to D2E. I would like to thank you for the valuable time you took out of your day to read my message. I vow to not disappoint or embarrass my donators, supporters, or D2E in any way as I proceed to race at UROC. Thank you again for your time!

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