Posted: Wednesday 11 January 2012
Charlie Watson tells us why she's running the London marathon in memory of her friend Vic.
On the outside my housemate, Vic, was a good looking, friendly, sporty, outgoing 20 year old university student. However on the inside he was silently battling bipolar disorder.
He didn’t talk about it much, if at all, which is common in men suffering from depression, but it meant it was all the more shocking when tragedy struck, and he took his own life in June 2009.
The rest of my housemates and I had already left University, some finishing for the summer, some finishing University for good, when Vic drove back up to Leeds to collect his belongings from the house. Unbeknown to anyone, once back in Leeds, Vic took his life in our house. To this day, I don't know whether he had planned it all along, choosing to wait until he was alone and our exams had finished, or whether he decided on it when he got there.
Everyone who knew Vic was deeply troubled by his sudden death.
It took me a long time to accept that Vic had gone. I am still hit with a huge sense of loss whenever I think about him. Small things set me off, such as cooking Coq au Vin (something we used to do together regularly), and listening to MIA’s ‘Paper Planes’ leaves me with tears streaming down my face, unable to catch my breath.
The year before last, I decided to stop wallowing in self-pity at our loss, and decided to do something positive in Vic’s memory. It had to be something big, something worthy of Vic. So I signed up for the Virgin London Marathon, running to raise money and awareness for Mind.
At the time I was travelling around South East Asia and running was the last thing I was thinking about, let alone training to run 26.2 miles. But I hoped that the intense training would be something positive that I could focus my energy on. And that I would help raise money for, and awareness of mental health problems, focusing particularly on depression in young people.
I hate to think that Vic suffered largely on his own and without our support. If I can help one person to get the support that they need, one family not to lose their child and a group of friends not have to go through the heartache that we have, then at least something positive will have come from our loss.
Unfortunately during training last year, I injured my knee and had to withdraw my entry to the marathon with just four weeks to go. So this year I am taking a far more serious attitude towards my training, incorporating weights, yoga, speed sessions and long runs into my training plan. I aim to be stronger and fitter than I was last year, and complete the marathon as strongly as possible.
Through the generous donations of friends and family I have raised nearly £2000. I plan to raise even more by running the Bath Half Marathon in March supporting Bath Mind. I think Vic would be very proud of what I am doing!
Charlie
You can follow Charlie's progress on her blog. Visit her sponsorship pages for the Bath half marathon and the London marathon.
Do good, feel great.
We've got lots of events coming up this year including walking challenges, runs and cycles. Support Mind and help us make sure that everyone has somewhere to turn for support and advice.
Charlie, your friend Vic would be hugely proud of you...take care x
Hello Charlie, I'm sorry you lost your friend. Good for you doing the marathon, and raising money for Mind - I wish you all the best with your training this time. I enjoy running myself, for me it helps with anxiety and stress, though I am a very long way from marathon level.....
Good luck!
Fantastic, Charlie! Very moving and I wish you luck. Vic would be so touched by what you're doing for him and others, I'm sure :)
What a good friend you are. Well done.
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