A chat with Callum Kwasnik, Run Talk Run St. Albans
Callum has been a part of the Run Talk Run community for quite some time now and it is an honour to be sharing his experiences of mental ill health and his discovery of exercise as an outlet to reset the brain, no matter what headspace he is in. Thank you for sharing your story, Callum.
Tell us a bit about your running and/or mental health journey so far. *if you go to a RTR, please specify which!
Whilst studying sport science at uni I started experiencing severe Depression, anxiety and OCD and although I didn't know it at the time, it was the start my passion for using exercise and physical activity to manage mental health. After uni I was a bit lost for a few years until I started attending sport sessions for people experiencing mental health problems and I very quickly realised this was something I wanted to throw myself into. I also started running as a way to get to know people despite the fact I didn't actually like running and have never been a natural runner, however I realised running with other people was so much easier as you're distracted from the thoughts in your head telling you to stop. I built up over a year or so and decided to run a half marathon. I trained mostly on my own which was a real mental battle but I did it, and then achieved my aim to simply complete a half marathon without walking. Even standing on the start line I had no idea if I could finish but the crowd helps you along even if you're a massive introvert like me and usually hate the idea of everyone cheering you on. Following this I found Run Talk Run through Instagram and started attending the Slough run initially before going to St Albans. The fitness levels I built up gave me the confidence to start attending Crossfit and I've been going for about a year now. I now also work for Mind in Mid Herts and run the Get Set to Go programme in Hertfordshire witch is part of Minds nationwide project to enable mental health sufferers to get active. Almost every aspect of my current life comes from that initial decision to try exercise as a way to manage my mental health.
What brought you to Run Talk Run specifically?
I'd never found running easy and following starting running as a way to manage my mental health RTR seemed like the perfect place for me. I found it to be a much more sustainable way to run as it's at the same time every week and you do it even if you don’t feel great. Everyone there is in the same boat and understands we are all there for the mental health benefits.
In what ways does running (and RTR!) help you?
I find exercise and running a great way to sort of 're set' my brain from a lot of the intrusive thoughts I get from OCD. RTR is a really friendly and chatty environment so it's a good way to meet people and connect.
What would you say to someone who was nervous about coming to a Run Talk Run?
Just give it ago, no one cares if you're any good at running or not and everyone else is there for their mental health too! Even if you only run a little bit and walk a lot it's a great way to get moving and meet like minded people.