Wolves Foundation: Andy's journey to the London Marathon
A Wolves fan who has declared that running saved his life is keen to continue his push to support positive mental health by taking part in the London Marathon for Wolves Foundation.
Next April, 10 years on from completing his very first 5km, Andy Jarvis will take to the streets of the capital to continue a running journey which has helped him address past issues of poor mental health and addiction.
His is an inspirational story all on its own which will undoubtedly help others in a similar position alongside raising vital funds for Wolves Foundation’s variety of work across the local community.
“I was struggling, and using alcohol as a crutch to manage my mental health,” says Andy, of the start of his running journey nine years ago.
“It all came to a head and I had to take some time off work and didn’t really know what to do with myself.
“So, I decided to do couch to 5k, initially on a treadmill, because I wasn’t confident running outside amongst people.
“Doing couch to 5k on a treadmill was tough, but it was a great stepping stone, and then I went on to doing the Park Run at West Park.
“I met so many influential people and it gave me a platform to start talking about my mental health, about where I was at the time.
“And it just led on from there.”
It certainly did.
He gradually stepped up to 10k, then half marathons and then the full distance, with London set to be the third of a special series to mark this incredible decade.
Last month he completed the Snowdonia Marathon, regarded as one of the toughest, and then two weeks before London he will take on the Boston event in Lincolnshire, one of the flattest and fastest!
He runs marathons not just for the achievement and sense of accomplishment that it brings. But also, for the benefits to mental and physical health associated with the training.
“It was the training that kept me on the straight and narrow really – the discipline I had to show to get into it,” Andy confirms.
“It doesn’t happen overnight, you have to build up to it, and that really helped me.
“That was how I started to put the relationship between training and the day-to-day of managing by mental health and addiction.
“In a way I think doing a marathon is comparison to life. It’s not just about the day, it’s the journey with all the training.
“In marathons, as in life, there are ups and downs, and there have been points where I have wanted to quit, but you have to keep going, and overcome the challenges.”
Andy has kept the photographic evidence from the time before he started running. Those images offer concrete proof as to the positive impact these last nine years have delivered. Losing a large amount of weight, now eating, sleeping and looking after himself far better, and feeling so much more positive about the challenges of life. He has also now been abstinent from alcohol for four years.
Things are certainly very different now to how they used to be.
But his biggest achievement is the one you can’t see. The transformation in his mental health. The confidence, clarity, and resilience he has gained have become the most powerful changes of all.
“In addiction, it got to the point where I didn’t really know how bad it was, until I looked back afterwards,” he explains.
“Keeping on running has helped me beyond the scientific benefits, it is the connections of the people I have made and the opportunity to talk to people while running along.
“I’m quite open now, more open that I have ever been about my struggles, even though I am still learning myself how to manage it all.
“I’d say I’m in the best place now that I’ve been in my whole life.
“From where I was before, to where I am now, I’m not the same person.
“I don’t know where I would be without running, and that is why I say it, I genuinely believe that running save my life.”
Having been supported himself by different local organisations, and very nearly signed up to the Foundation’s Head 4 Health programme, it is the charity’s work supporting people with their mental health challenges that has motivated Andy to now raise funds himself.
“The work the Foundation deliver in so many different areas is so very important, and they provide services in the community which are otherwise lacking,” he says.
“This is the club I have supported all my life, and I get to run the London Marathon with that badge on my chest.
“The two things that I love the most – football and running – have come together!”
Want to support Andy’s marathon effort and the work of Wolves Foundation? Click here to visit his fundraising page.
