NMHRI team take on the Cardiff Half Marathon in support of MQ

A group of staff at the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI) are aiming to raise money for MQ by running the Cardiff Half Marathon 2016, sponsored by Cardiff University.

The team will be joining thousands of competitors on the 21.1km course, with the route starting outside Cardiff Castle and taking runners past the capital’s most iconic landmarks.

“This all started when our director Jeremy Hall challenged Adrian Harwood, also a director at the Institute, to run the 2015 half-marathon in under two hours” explained Dr Andrew Cuthbert, a genetic counsellor and team captain. “If he did, Jeremy promised he’d run it this year.”

Professor Harwood went on to run the 2015 Cardiff Half Marathon in under two hours. “Being a man of my word, I’ll be running the half-marathon this year!” said Professor Jeremy Hall, who is also a member of MQ’s Fellows Award advisory committee. “I thought it was a great opportunity to get a team together and raise money for a good cause and as well work in the field of mental health research, choosing to fundraise for MQ was an easy decision.”

MQ is the UK’s only publically funded mental health research charity. Set up in 2013, the charity works to fund much-needed research into mental health in order to benefit everyone with a condition. That’s one in four of us each year. Their vision is simple: to create a world where mental illness is understood, effectively treated, and ultimately prevented.

The other runners include Adrian Harwood, Nick Clifton, Anna Moon, Cath Hortop, David Linden, Laura Westacott, Lucy Sykes, Marc Brown and Matt Hill. Ian Driver (School of Psychology), Lorraine Fletcher (The Waterloo Foundation) and Sophie Dix (MQ) are also part of the team.

Sophie Dix is the Director of Research at MQ, and is running the half-marathon as part of the NMHRI team. She said “Mental health research needs you! By supporting the Cardiff University team - you are helping MQ to get ahead of mental illness and ensure better standards of wellbeing for everyone living with a condition. I look forward to joining this wonderful team for the Cardiff Half Marathon and we are all deeply grateful for your support”.

Cardiff Half Marathon takes place on Sunday 2 October.

If you would like to support the team you can donate online at https://everydayhero.co.uk/event/team-mq-cardiff