Charity run returns to Croxteth Park to raise funds for Movember

A charity run in aid of Movember is returning to Liverpool tomorrow.

Runners will arrive at the starting blocks for MoRun at Croxteth Park for the annual event.

MoRunning, the running event series in aid of Movember, is a proud supporter of men’s mental health and has been for over 15 years.

It’s aim is to raise awareness of, and fund research into, men’s mental health, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

Helen Stammers runs the charity alongside founder Dave Krangel.

She said: “MoRunning provides a platform for people to get involved in something healthy and fun whilst raising funds and increasing awareness for Movember.

“We speak ahead of the races starting about the purpose of the MoRuns and the importance of supporting men’s health and talking openly about it.

“We hope these messages reach people and in turn make them take positive action.

“Historically, men are bad at talking about mental health themselves. Hopefully, the more we talk the more open men can become.”

According to mental health services provider Priory, 40% of men have never spoken about their mental health with 29% saying they are too embarrassed to speak to other people about it.

The NHS says that one in eight men report experiencing symptoms of mental health problems compared to one in five women.

The charity run was introduced to Croxteth Park back in 2014 and has since become a yearly event.

This year’s MoRun at Liverpool has raised over £4,500 and even sold out in all races with roughly 500-600 runners taking part.

The events will include a 5k, 10k, a half marathon and a mini MoRun which is 1.5k.

There will also be a fancy dress competition taking place before the race.

Past participants have described MoRunning at Liverpool as a “friendly event” with plenty of “marshals encouraging you along the way”.

They have also described the event as “lively and buzzing” with many people taking part and supporting the event.

Krangel founded the charity back in 2009 and has since taken it across the UK, as well as taking it down under in 2010 with a total of 500 Aussie runners.

It is now the largest running event series that supports Movember as well as men’s health.

In 2015, MoRun had a total of 21 locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Two years later they introduced the popular mini MoRun which allows all the family to get involved with the day.

They then added the addition of virtual MoRunning in 2018 which allowed anyone anywhere in the world to be a part of this incredible event.

This saw over 700 international runners take part from the likes of South America all the way to New Zealand.

Men’s mental health awareness month also known as Movember, was created to raise awareness and encourage open conversations between men.

This charity was founded in 2003 when two Australian friends Travis Garone and Luke Slattery convinced 30 friends to grow a moustache for a month.

Since, Movember has expanded globally to more than 20 countries tackling open conversations about prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention

Co-Founder Adam Garone told the “We Are For Good” podcast: “Were making good progress on prostate and testicular cancer and in terms of testicular cancer, no man should ever die from that anymore.

“Mental health and suicide for men and boys is a really gnarly topic and very complex, were not winning on that one as a society as it’s getting more complex with social and digital media.”

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