Courtney’s Marathon for Mental Health

Instead of running from her mental health, today Courtney runs for her mental health. Read how this 24-year-old registered nurse from Nanango Qld is running her way around the GC to raise awareness for LIVIN. 

Hi guys – I’m 24 years old and moved to Brisbane from the small country town of Nanango in 2015 for university. I now work as a Registered Nurse, specialising in Anaesthetics for a fantastic Brissy hospital! 

I’ve lost count of how many years I have put “run a marathon” on my New Year’s resolution list . Due to COVID restrictions, I was able to get back into running and truly fell in love with how it made me feel. After giving a number of half marathons a go, I decided this was the year to finally tick off my recurring resolution (obviously choosing the flattest course I could find!). At the time I signed up for the Gold Coast Marathon, my mental health took a hard hit. I had always struggled with anxiety and depression, even as an adolescent, but the stress of working in healthcare and life started to beat me down. I started my training and realised how beneficial running was to my overall wellness. I thought what better opportunity than to combine two things that I hold close to my heart. Running + mental health awareness = a match made in Courtney heaven! 

I really wanted to hold myself accountable whilst also using the 16+ weeks of training I had ahead to make a positive impact. I’d been aware of LIVIN, mostly from seeing their apparel around town and via social media. It was an easy choice to raise money for LIVIN as I wholeheartedly understand the impact that mental illness stigma and suffering in silence can have on a person. LIVIN provides education to people of all ages, allowing a range of people to benefit from the money raised. 

Growing up in a small town, mental health stigma was alive and well. It felt like such a taboo subject to talk about openly and thus I never reached out when I was struggling with my own mental health. My anxiety increased significantly whilst I was in high school/university and I also battled with depression as I got older. I was scared to talk to anyone about what I was going through because I felt like everyone knew me as this bright, bubbly, and energetic girl. I was terrified of people’s perception of me being altered and scared of being labeled. I bottled up my feelings and emotions for a long time and I began to seek release through harmful avenues. I struggled with self-harm, and disordered eating, and was greeted with frequent panic attacks. I never wanted to “burden” anyone with my problems so I always kept it to myself, which only made things worse. 

Finally, I noticed that mental health was being talked about more often. I decided to seek professional help and finally open up about what I was dealing with. I realised that I wasn’t alone and that the people around me just wanted me to be the healthiest version of myself. Fundraising money for LIVIN has allowed me to start up very important conversations with friends, colleagues, and family about mental health. I talk about it in a casual sense to help people realise that it’s okay to speak about your struggles and that no one is here to judge. We all have our own stories. 

No one should have to feel like they’re doing this alone. If anyone is struggling with their own mental health, please take care of yourself. Speak to a close friend or family about it, seek professional medical help or contact-free mental health resources (plenty of resources/links on the  LIVIN website). Someone close to you might be going through something similar (trust me, you wouldn’t believe how many people might just be in the same boat with you) and you’ll never know unless you speak. You are so loved and you deserve every chance to be your best self. 

With two weeks left to go until #GCM22 and my training tapering down, I’ve been able to reflect on the progress I’ve made both mentally and physically. I’ve been so fortunate to reach $3K in donations but if you’d like to donate to “Courtney’s Marathon for Mental Health” the link will be provided below. If you aren’t in a position to donate but would like to keep up with my journey, I post frequent updates on my Instagram, @courtneyfrohloff (you will be exposed to videos of me singing Hannah Montana very badly whilst running.. ) 

Support Courtney’s fundraising efforts and help us spread the message that It’s Aint Weak to Speak:

https://goldcoastmarathon22.grassrootz.com/livin/courtney-frohloff/?tab=donations