Inspirational Meath man Stephen Lynch is about to begin an epic running challenge from Donegal this Monday to raise funds and awareness for mental health.
Stephen is aiming to run from Malin Head to Mizen Head in just 5 days and 13 hours. In doing so, he would be the fourth quickest person to do such route while also being the youngest person ever to do so at 28 years of age.
Stephen, who now lives in Sydney, has faced his own mental health struggles. He battled Bulimia in his teens and now wants to run for hope and to let others know they’re not alone.
He said: “Mental health is a massive issue and I feel like running or even exercise in general has always gave me great tools to deal with any difficult situations or problems I’ve had in the past. I feel like for a very long time now I’ve always protected my mental health by doing exercise and looking after myself as best as possible.”
Despite having only taken up running a couple of years ago, Stephen aims to run 100km a day which is the total distance of about 13 marathons. He did a 80km run in November for SOSAD raising €2108. All funds raised this time will go towards Mental Health Ireland and SOSAD.
“One thing for certain in life is that we cannot control what happens to us or people we care about it but we can control how we react, and that is essential information to understand. I want to show that we can accomplish amazing things and get over unthinkable obstacles once we just keep moving forward, one step after another,” said Stephen.
Stephen hopes to arrive in Mizen Head in Cork on August 19th and would appreciate all the support he can get. You can read more about Stephen and donate to his fundraiser here https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/StephenLynch550
