Endurance athlete, Fergus Crawley, 30, from Edinburgh, will push himself to his limits when attempting to complete 10 full Ironman distance triathlons in 10 consecutive days in 10 cities, starting on Thursday.
The incredible feat will happen a decade since Fergus’s suicide attempt and to raise money for charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
From 2 to 9 May, Fergus will put his mind and body to the test when he swims 2.4 miles, cycles 112 miles and runs 26.2 miles every day for 10 days starting in Edinburgh. From there he will repeat the gruelling challenge in Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff and Bristol before completing the feat in London.
Should anyone wish to join in at any stage his Edinburgh venture begins at 4.15am in the Royal Commonwealth Pool and from there around 5.30am he will cycle to the East Fortune race circuit arriving around 6.30am.
From there Fergus will cycle back to Meadowbank where he will circle the track from 11.30 am until 5.30 pm.
Fergus has high expectations of success already having already completed the CELTMAN! Extreme Scottish Triathlon – twice, The Double Brutal Extreme Triathlon which is a double Ironman in the mountains of Snowdonia and a 250km single stage ultramarathon from Edinburgh to Ben Nevis.
Named Project TENacity, the challenge marks a deeply personal milestone for Fergus who attempted to take his life on 9 May 2016 after struggling with mental health issues while he was at Durham University.
“For a variety of reasons, I was feeling isolated, lonely and a failure and at the same time, my perception of masculinity was not to show emotion, vulnerability or weakness. I couldn’t eat, train, sleep or focus and eventually I felt so desperate I attempted suicide. This was despite me having a loving family, loyal friends and a life worth living. Afterwards, my initial feeling was of anger that the one decisive action I’d taken to end my pain hadn’t worked,” said Fergus, adding:
“Not long after that, I got a message from my friend Andy asking if I’d like to buy a French bulldog puppy. Of course I did. It would mean routine, responsibility and companionship and so I got Odie, who helped start the healing process. I soon began training again and moved back to Durham to complete my final year at university.”
Ultimately, it was through endurance training and movement that Fergus, now an entrepreneur, endurance athlete and founder of Omnia Performance found his purpose, structure and community.
It is also why he now campaigns for others to find their ‘mission through movement’ and is calling on people in every city to join him for parts of the challenge, whether that is swimming, cycling or running.
TENacity aims to raise £122,000 for suicide prevention charity CALM to fund 10,000 potentially lifesaving calls. At the same time, the project has also been designed to encourage thousands of people to move, connect and engage in positive action around mental health.
Fergus will tackle most of the swims in a 50m pool, bike rides on a motor circuit and marathons on an athletics track, all with the intention of getting as many people to join him as possible.
To help raise further funds for CALM, the TENacity project is requesting a minimum donation of £12.20 from anyone who would like to take part.
Fergus continues: “This challenge will push me to my limits but it’s more than just an endurance feat. It’s about demonstrating the power of movement, community and purpose on mental wellbeing and inspiring others to get started.
“To be joined and supported by communities in each city would mean the world to me, whether that’s for a single lap, several laps or a full discipline. You could be an endurance athlete yourself or you might not even exercise regularly, if at all. The main thing is that we get together in a shared challenge and in doing so, raise vital funds for CALM, a brilliant charity focused on preventing suicide and supporting those in crisis.”
To make a donation, find out more about the TENacity challenge or to sign up to participate please visit https://givestar.io/gs/project-tenacity
