A Worthwhile Endeavour?

THE END OF ENDEAVOUR

So, another Pyllon Endeavour project comes to an end. This time, some would say, we smashed all of our goals. We reached our 1,000 mile target with over a day of running still to go. We were well over our 100,000ft of ascent, and the animated target graphic on our just giving page shows 111% for donations to our charity partner SAMH. So, by all obvious measures, it was a successful week.

On one of those donations early in the week somebody wished us luck for our event: “third time lucky,” referring to our past two efforts where we didn’t quite hit the mark with our athletic targets. Were these failures, and this a success? Is it really as simple as that?

No. Of course not. It’s no more clear cut than trying to answer the question of “how are you feeling?”, or “what do you want out of life?” in just a few words. But it seems that despite the promise of connected technologies we share greater distances by the day. The sharp decline of real human interactions replaced with opportunities for binary categorisations. Like or don’t like. Thumbs up or thumbs down.

Our feelings too, are now good or bad. Right or wrong. We label, perhaps just for the certainty and consistency it brings. But there are always grey areas. There is no certainty. However hard we try. And when we regularly feel lonely and / or misunderstood, anxiety fills the gaps, keeping us unsettled and over-stimulated.

“If you ever want to have peace in your life, you have to move beyond good and evil.” (N. Ravikant)

You can swap “good” and “evil” for whatever polar opposites you like - “Success” and “Failure” being the most pertinent for the Endeavour project. But, rather try to justify the event and attach a value measure, or simply talk about the miles run and the challenges of recovering after daily long efforts, it feels more valuable to talk openly about what we were trying to achieve and why.

JANUARY 2021

We chose the third week in January in particular to do it. It’s a difficult time of year under normal circumstances. Anxiety is high after Christmas. Depression figures normally peak. And we’ve been further separated from friends and family, locked down into a second year, with justifiable worries about the future, for ourselves and those we love.

Our project goals were to try and remind people that life is still happening now. Many of us feel like we are missing something from our lives, but isn’t that absolutely guaranteeing us unhappiness? Aren’t things perfect or imperfect because of what we desire? What we can or cannot grasp or get enough of? We have to remember that happiness is just a concept - a “brand”. In nature, there is no such concept. Everything is exactly as it needs to be. It is only in our minds that we create happy or unhappy. Ultra runners suffer. But suffering is what we create in own minds. How we choose to interpret the signals of pain for example, is up to us. We do have a choice.

But we cannot always see the choices we have. We seem unable to take a step back and realise that the whole system thrives on us feeling always incomplete.

We hoped that our running might help some to see that we are all in this together. And when we connect with others, realise that we can’t all be at the centre of the universe. We are here for a short time. We have the opportunity to have an impact, but we’re no bigger or more significant than a single molecule, in a droplet of water, in a vast ocean. By accepting that, we must remind ourselves that every second we’re here is precious, and it’s within our capacity to make choices for ourselves and to start working on creating a better reality.

Endeavour was an ambitious project. We’re just a bunch of runners trying to use our beloved sport to encourage people to face up to the difficulties that we all experience, and be willing to seek out and support others who need some help. We’re not qualified in any way to talk about mental health and well-being, but we’re human. Just like you. We’re trying to have a positive impact whilst we are here, and Endeavour gave us a platform to at least have some open and positive conversation.

The commitment from the whole team was steadfast from the first midnight miles. We chose to run beyond 1,000 miles, not because we needed to or were still running with smiles on our faces, but because we said we would. It gave us another day to connect with people. Another opportunity to make a better choice, and to run alongside every pain, grievance and shred of shame that we are often too scared to acknowledge.

THANKS

Thanks to everyone who made an effort to connect with us through the week. You made it all worthwhile. We loved that you shared miles with us in some way (some 5,000 of them) - I think we owe you 4,000 miles back!

Please keep talking.

Huge thanks to the whole Pyllon Racing Team: Graham Connolly, John Connolly, Marco Consani, Chris Cowley, Grant MacDonald, James Stewart, Robert Turner, Kaz Williams (and all their partners)

….and behind the scenes, Karen Wallace, Kevin Banks, Cindy Cosgrove, Chris Creegan and Jo Giblin