When Gofor's Justin, Andrew, and Paul first discussed running the Edinburgh Marathon, there were a few doubters in the office. Let’s just say it looked a bit of a stretch. Yet here we are, three Gofor colleagues all in peak(ish) condition, ready to conquer Edinburgh’s historic and scenic marathon route.
The long and winding road
Training for a marathon is no small feat, especially when balancing it with work and personal life. Justin, our head of customer success, has chosen to tackle the full 26.2 miles, balancing managing our customer relationships with some serious on-the-road mileage. He meticulously plans his training schedule down to the last detail and regularly pounds the 15-mile run home from work, rain, hail, or shine (and a bit of snow).
It’s fair to say that account manager Paul and systems implementation exec Andrew have been a little more relaxed in their training plans to tackle the half marathon, and the look of rising panic on their faces over the last couple of weeks has been notable!
Proud to represent SAMH
This year, the Gofor team has selected SAMH, Scottish Action for Mental Health, as our charity partner. Mental health is very real and comes in many forms. Whether its a friend, a family member or someone you don't know, everyone deserves support but not everyone has that support network. This is where SAMH help.
Justin, Paul and Andrew’s Edinburgh Marathon will form a major part of the fundraising efforts, with a series of further events both in and out of office planned for2024. Any donations are greatly appreciated and will go a long way to helping provide support for those that need it most.
Speaking about the marathon, Justin said:
This will be my first marathon. It’s honestly not something I ever thought I’d do,and there have been days when I wish I wasn’t! Now I’m in the final few days of preparation, I’m honestly desperate to get to the start line and represent the team here at Gofor and everyone associated with SAMH.
I just hope Andrew and Paul can keep up with me on race day!
A bit about SAMH…
SAMH has been supporting Scotland’s mental health for 100 years and currently operates over 70 services in communities across Scotland. These services include mental health social care support, addictions,and employment services.
Together with national programme work in See Me, respect me,suicide prevention, and physical activity and sport, these services inform SAMH’s policy and campaign work to influence positive social change.
Visit www.samh.org.ukor follow @SAMHTweets, SAMHmentalhealth onFacebook and samhscotland on Instagram for more information.
The SAMH Information Service team can connect you with local mental health support and information. It operates from 9am-6pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays) and you can email info@samh.org.uk or call 0344 800 0550.
Donate today!
Gofor has set up a Just Giving page to manage all donations to SAMH for 2024. If you can, the guys would greatly appreciate any donations as they look to build on their Edinburgh Marathon fundraising efforts (already over £1500!).
…and Justin, Andrew, Paul, we salute you gents 🫡
