Newquay woman completes seven marathons in seven days
Sarah Thomson, 28, is raising money for the mental health charity Mind
A student from Newquay has today (Tuesday 26th January) completed seven marathons in seven days to raise money for a mental health charity.
Sarah Thomson, 28, decided to take on the momentous challenge after losing her boyfriend to suicide a couple of years ago.
During the first lockdown last spring, she attempted to take her own life. As part of her recovery, she spoke to volunteers at the charity Mind, who she says were "amazing":
"I just got to a point where I was so low that I was just didn't want to be here anymore so I tried to take my own life.
"When I was found and resuscitated I wasn't expecting to be here, but when I found out I was going to be here again I confided a lot in phoning helplines, Mind specifically, and they were so amazing just to there 24 hours a day through some of the hardest days."
Sarah Thomson, fundraising marathon runner
According to statistics by the World Health Organisation and the NHS, someone dies by suicide every 40 seconds and is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds.
However, it is one of the most underfunded areas from the Government, with only 11% of the NHS budget being put into mental health.
Sarah, who is studying at Truro College said she's always loved running and thought it was the perfect thing to do to help raise money for the charity:
"Something I have always loved about running is this concept that no matter any pain or discomfort, you're always moving forwards and I thought that was a really nice thing and when I decided to do it run seven marathons in seven days for the charity Mind, I just thought that concept fitted really well with what I was raising money for."
Sarah Thomson
After completing the challenge, Sarah says she was very pleased with how quickly she completed the marathons and is amazed by how far we can push our bodies:
"I'm definitely tired but I'm also, for the first time in a really long time, got a lot of mental strength again which is originally why I wanted to an endurance-spaced event.
"It's amazing how good it can make you feel, to know you can still go even when things are really hard."
Sarah Thomson
Having personally struggled with her mental health, Sarah has some words of advice for those who may find themselves in a similar situation during this third lockdown.
"When people say 'these things get better', It's so hard to believe that when you feel so low and so trapped and lost, but it is true and sometimes you just have to cling on day after day and grab hold of something that gives you that little bit of structure and that little bit of fight. But it does pass and it does get better."
Sarah Thomson
In April, Sarah is hoping to become a world record breaker by running 15 marathons in 15 days in the fastest accumulative time, with funds also going towards the charity Mind.
So far, she has raised over ÂŁ5,000. If you would like to make a donation towards Sarah's cause, visit her JustGiving page here.