Sienna Stainton

London Landmarks Half Marathon for Mental Health UK

I’m taking on the London landmarks half marathon for mental health uk!!!!!

Mental health has affected many people and can present in so many different ways. 

For me personally I struggled a lot with my mental health after Covid and it impacted majority of my teen years, this made school very hard and mentally challenging. In that time I developed unhealthy habits and coping mechanisms that were actually making everything worse. There was this constant fear,anxiety and panic around going to school and being at school. Despite this, I had an amazing support network teachers/friends and parents that supported me and made it that tiny bit easier. And after countless tears, medications, therapy, long motivational talks, missing lessons, catching up on lessons and resilience I was finally able to complete my GCSEs and even A-levels, AND pass the exams,

which we were all extremely surprised about🫣 

Leaving school last year was extremely hard for me and I hated change and the fact I had no idea or plan of what was next. 

University? New Job? Career? Traveling? 

Constant stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed by everything all the time, and not knowing what was next . This is where I found the love for fitness and running, it gave me a healthy way to cope with my overwhelming thoughts and emotions and gave me something to distract myself with. It has become something I thoroughly enjoy doing and has become part of my every day life and something I can do with the people I love. It is helping me regain my independence, confidence and self worth all whilst being something I love. 

I’ve still got a long way to go with my mental health and also my fitness and running journey, but running a half marathon for a mental health charity is something that I could not be more excited to be part of. Any donation would be greatly appreciated. The money will go to support mental health services and resources so individuals can get the support that they need. 

Thank you for reading 

Sienna 💙