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Runner Gareth Jones on his journey, past and Craft Sportswear

Patience and determination are key for the Mental Health Wanderer

Gareth Jones, the Mental Health Wanderer, is an ultra-runner, sponsored by Craft Sportswear, from Aberdare in South Wales.

He took up running in lockdown during the Covid Pandemic and didn’t look back.

Gareth said: “I was sitting in my house doing lockdown, being sent home from work for four months and one day, you know, my anxiety and I guess the stress of just having nothing to do took over. And I was like, something has to change.
“So I bought a cheap pair of trainers from Primark, cost me £12 and went out one day up the mountain.
“First office it started as 5 kilometres, then 10 kilometres and before I knew it, you know, I was running 20 kilometres every day. And this is in a matter of, you know, a couple of weeks, a couple of months.
“So that would have been in the November and by the August of the following year, the furthest distance I had run was 32 kilometres.
“But one day I decided to get on a train to the top of North Wales with a bag on my back, and I decided to run home. It was my first ultra marathon, so I ran home 200 miles to Aberdare.

“So, I travelled down the Offa’s Dyke from Mold.”

Gareth set up his mental health platforms in the name of the Mental Health Wanderer to give back due to his own struggles in the past.

Gareth added: “Ten years ago I was a massive drug addict. I was addicted to amphetamine.

“Now it’s taken me 10 years to get into a comfortable place where I can probably finally look in the mirror and like what I see, you know, I’ll never be perfect in my own eyes, but it’s taken 10 years to get where I am.
“And that’s all because of patience, you know, patience and determination.

“I run a mental health platform online and they reach out to me for help

“So, I don’t charge people, it’s just something that I do just to try and help people and give back who was in my position.
“And you know, the least I can do is just spend a couple of, you know, spend a couple of hours a week on someone to help them, to mould them into what they already are.
“But some sometimes people just need to see that and I’ll give them running programmes and etcetera.”

To find our more about Gareth watch the full video interview.

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