Brave the Storm 2020 Virtual 5k Recap
On Friday June 26th through Sunday June 28th, This Is My Brave held its inaugural virtual 5k to shine a light on mental health. Over 250 people signed up from across the country to run, walk, hike (or swim!) a 5k in the location of their choice. In the process, they helped us raise nearly $5000! Our Brave followers are truly incredible and showed up for the challenge! Sharing their messages of why they #BravetheStorm20 of mental illness and snapping photos along the way, our social media feeds were filled with inspiration and hope from so many of our favorite faces.
Check out our featured post by Merv Feick III of Saint Louis, MO and the photo gallery below. We want to thank everyone that participated and donated to help us continue spreading the message that #storytellingsaveslives.
*This being our first 5k (that we put together rather quickly!) – we didn’t have the time to organize brackets and categories, but we promise to do so next year!
“This is My Brave, the organization that works to normalize discussions around mental health issues through storytelling to remove stigmas and give hope, is doing a 5K this weekend, #BravetheStorm20. This is my first official 5K, even if done as an individual instead of on a formal trek with people. I woke up around 3:30am, couldn’t get back to sleep, so set out around 4:15am to take advantage of the cool temp. It seemed perfect, as soon as I stepped outside, the sky lit up and crackled with thunder, a literal storm to brave! It was far off, never got more than a light show, and only a half hour of that, but was great timing all the same! Anyway, I got my 5K in in record time for me…
But I wanted to get another 5K in, because most of my night walks have been at least 3 miles in about an hour at a decent pace, though I have been working on adding in jogging, though not as much as what I did for my first 5K, so wanted to keep pushing myself, figured in going with the Brave the Storm theme, do one for who I am now, one for who I used to be. And I did! But I kept going, was out in parks I hadn’t been to before, was enjoying the sunrise, and wanted to make it a personal best. Previously, my longest walk was down some dark country moonlit roads of my youth, which was an amazing trip, at a little under 8.5 miles. I figured that a third 5K would surpass that, and round out the theme, having done one for me now, one for who I was, and one for who I want to be, which is someone who keeps moving the line and doing better.
A little before I finished the second 5K, around 6 miles in but already planning on doing my third so some distance from the house still, I misjudged some mud I was trying to hop, turned out to be fetid water that went up a bit past my knee… I actually thought it quite fitting, that my third 5K would be in wet shoes, uncomfortable, smelling like death water and muck, looking a hot mess, haha! It seemed perfect, thematically, as I want to be someone who doesn’t let life stop me from doing what I want and need to do, who will walk those miles sore and smelly because I must.
But I didn’t stop after finishing my third 5K, I kept walking. I actually did about 4.5 miles in those wet shoes and clothes before I made it home, where I changed quickly, drank some water with some ibuprofen, and then went out to keep on walking… I had a new goal in mind, one I had set for later this year to build towards, but seemed like the perfect time to do it now… I did my half marathon!! Actually, about a half mile more, haha! And sure, my time was far from great, but all things considered, proud of myself! So this is me, braving my storm and being better for it! Can’t wait to see what I make of the second half of this challenging year!!”
– Merv Feick III, This Is My Brave Saint Louis 2020
Images from our participants across the country:
Thank you to everyone who participated, fundraised, shared on social media and got out there for mental health! We can’t wait to do it again next year!
