Campaigner finishes 10 Ironman triathlons in 10 days

A mental health campaigner who attempted to take his own life a decade ago has completed 10 Ironman triathlons in as many days while raising money for charity and trying to set a world record.

Former Durham University student Fergus Crawley took on the challenge to support the Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm) suicide prevention charity.

From 30 April to 9 May, he swam, cycled and ran 140.6 miles (226km) every day in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Bristol and London.

After raising £30,000, Crawley said: "The fundraising is cool, the world record is cool, but the actual tangible impact on human beings along the way, I think is the coolest."

The 30-year-old, who named his project TENacity, was joined by more than 500 people over the course of the challenge.

Crawley is believed to have set a world record for incorporating the most cities while completing the triathlon distance on consecutive days.

He said: "It was a really special thing to experience, having created a project which allowed people to speak to a stranger about their own challenges."

Crawley also said endurance sport had taught him lessons that helped him reflect on his own mental health challenges after he attempted suicide in 2016 while at university.

"All the little lessons, all the little messages and things that I've taken away are completely akin to how I would look at my own experience in the past from a mental wellbeing and suicide prevention point of view," he said.

"For example, on day eight of the challenge, I'd written myself off. I did not see any way forwards, I couldn't really figure out how I was going to be able to move on, but just by bite-sizing things down and relying on the people around me, knowing I could ask for their help, that allowed me to rebuild momentum."

Crawley said sleep deprivation was a challenge as he was getting a maximum of four hours a night while on the move.

He said his French Bulldog Odie helped him rebuild confidence and find a purpose to recover during his mental health struggles at university.

During the challenge Odie was a "real reference point for that period", he said.

"Odie is a key part of the story and to have him there was a nice way of tying together the past decade," he said.

Crawley said that through the people who joined him during the triathlons, he learnt how important it is to recognise help is all around.

"The judgment and isolation that you may fear when you are struggling mentally is often coming from an illogical place," he explained.

"The 500-plus people who showed up as part of the project showed me that I know every single one of them could be a stranger you could rely on.

"There are people out there who are willing to help, and that doesn't necessarily need to be anything more than just being there to listen or being present," he added.

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