Matt’s year of change

Meet Matt who will be running this year’s Yorkshire Marathon. Turning 30 at the start of the year, he set out for 2024 to be his year of change. 

Find out more about his reason for running below.

"I have signed up to run the Yorkshire Marathon 2024 as a measure to see how far I’ve come in 2024 – my year of change!

"Turning 30 was the point in my life that I realised, as much as I love offering my help to those around me, I needed to shift my focus onto prioritising my own mental health as it was getting slightly out of hand. I haven’t shared any of what I’m about to share below – close friends and family may be slightly bewildered, but it wasn’t something I felt I could speak about at the time. I feared it would be selfish and would show signs of weakness in a world that, from the outside, may have seemed I had everything going for me.

"Throughout my 20’s, since leaving university, I experienced real turbulence with no day the same as the next, several bouts of depression, with the idea of suicide being something that seemed like the only way out, and repetitive, negative behavioural patterns that I just couldn’t shake off. My life was a constant whirlwind of keeping my head just above the surface so that I wouldn’t drown whilst appearing like everything was fine.

"I had a constant lack of belief in my own abilities. Instead of dealing with any of the issues I faced, I chose to bury these thoughts by heavily relying on alcohol, nicotine, ADHD medication and anti-depressants to suppress all these feelings.

"This helped not to experience the pain. This didn’t help the root causes. I turned 30 on January 1^st this year. As I lay in the dark on New Years Day, newly single, ridiculously hungover, sad, no drive and reeking of body odour – I knew something had to change. I knew this wasn’t a good way to live the rest of my life. 

"Rock-bottom became the foundations I needed to convince myself that I wouldn’t drink for three months, I’d quit e-cigarettes, come off my anti-depressants, start taking healthy-eating and running seriously and stop taking ADHD medication. It was about time I braced who I was and the consistency of these good behaviours would get me there.

"Here I am, in my ninth month of sobriety, not having had nicotine since December, off all medication and recently created an Instagram page (@uusi.alku.sobriety) to inspire others to embark on a similar journey – I felt the Marathon would be a strong measure to see where I’m at. 

"So many things have changed for me this year. I’m not fully there yet, but I’m considerably closer to where I want to be. I couldn’t have done it without the support system around me.

"For this exact reason, the end-goal for all of this is to BE this support system for others in the community who may not have or be willing to utilise one. I want others who feel lost to experience what I’ve experienced this year and sometimes all that needs is a gentle push in the right direction.

"The difficulties we face because of alcohol don’t present themselves or become entirely clear until we stop drinking. You can’t see the view from the top of the mountain until you start the climb.

"I expect to be very emotional crossing the finish line on the 20^th October. Metaphorically, I will be crossing a line of my own and will have proven to myself that you often suffer more in your own head, than you do in reality."

Good luck Matt, we can't wait to watch you cross the finish line on event day!

Entries are still open for this year’s Yorkshire Marathon. To find out more and enter, potential participants advised to click here