Having recently started running and setting myself the goal of a 5KM run, I came across the de Castella run to raise money for MAPrc (the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre).

The reason I started running is to help my own mental health, and to lose some weight. Fighting depression and anxiety is a daily challenge, and running helps a lot, sending good chemicals out into my body and distracting my mind from anything it might stew on, forcing me to focus on my body in that precise moment.

Mental illness research is something I'm really passionate about - my own experience, and the experience of people close to me make this a cause close to my heart. I'd love to one day know that there are new options for my loved ones dealing with depression, anxiety, schizo-affective disorder, or schizophrenia, and that young people struggling with self-harm could find more helpful solutions than I did. I'd like to know that people with mental illnesses are safe and coping well. In the meantime, it's important to know that organizations like MAPrc are working hard to find the answers. 

It would mean so much to me if you could donate to help raise money for this cause, and if you can't, then maybe consider coming down to the finish line on the 26th August to cheer me on and hold my hair back while I spew from the physical exertion. 

Sam van Zweden.

And the message from MAPrc: