This is bloody epic to see - a bunch of young lads, getting stuck in, to make a difference and raise awareness for mental health in New Zealand.
This article talks about mental health and suicide. If you, or someone you know is struggling, you can check out a bunch of mental health links and resources here.
A group of 33 Dunedin lads, who’ve dubbed themselves the ‘Heavy breathers,’ are set to run the Dunedin Marathon next month to raise funds for ‘#SparkThatChat’ - a yearly charity campaign run by MSFT Productions that aims to spread positive mental-health conversations, and raises money for the Mental Health Foundation of NZ.
And I’ll tell ya what - they’ve already raised an impressive $63,000, with their end goal being to raise $75,000.
The Emerson’s Dunedin Marathon is all going down September 10th - just two days after The Rock 2000 final day and live event at Spark Arena. Something tells us the lads will be taking the Rock 2000 final day a little easier than they maybe usually would this year.
Originally, the boys set out to raise $10,000, but they “blew past that,” 20-year-old Heavy breathers member Will Saunders told LadBible, “and that shifted to $40,000 and we blew past that as well.”
14 of the Dunners boys live together in the student complex the Lake House, which is most commonly known for throwing some of the biggest parties in Dunedin, in particular its legendary St Paddy’s Day parties.
But just because the young lads enjoy sinking some tins, it doesn’t mean that they’ve forgotten the importance of being there for their mates.
“They think a lot of the time we’re just breathers out on the piss, but this actually affects us and it has affected us, and we care about each other a lot,” Heavy Breathers member Will also said.
None of the 33 lads have ever run a marathon before, but the group started training over two months ago and as of August 6th, have collectively run 4072.7km. Pretty bloody impressive for a group of young blokes who don’t necessarily consider themselves ‘runners.’
“No-one has done a marathon in this group, and no-one has ever really been a runner, but all of a sudden we’re all now all marathon-level fit and almost ready to go for the big day. That comes from everybody getting behind each other,” another member Josh said.
The boys have been posting regular updates to their Instagram, keep everyone in the loop with their progress.
Tragically, last month while the lads were deep in their training, one of the members lost their brother, Thomas, to the black dog.
"T-Muzz was known and loved by many of us, and this news has been very hard for all of us," they wrote in an Instagram update. Now when they run the marathon, the boys will be wearing shirts with a dedication to their late mate.
MSFT Productions said in an Instagram post that they’re “honoured” to have the lads representing #SparkThatChat, saying:
“One step at a time, helping one life at a time, that’s what matters. Up the Breathers” - and we absolutely couldn't agree more.
Legendary mahi from these lads - if you’d like to donate, you can find the 'Heavy Breather's take on mental health' givealittle page here.
Plus, the breathers have joined forces with HEX, a service that runs free events and giveaways around New Zealand, to create and sell some epic supporters merchandise.
The tees are sick - personally, they give me a bit of a ‘Beavis & Butthead’ vibe which I love. The shirts will be available to buy today, and all proceeds will go directly to the Heavy Breather’s Give A Little campaign. Epic!
A massive good-on-ya and good-luck for the marathon to the boys from all of us here at The Rock.
