RELAY 116 123
The longest journeys aren’t always measured in miles.
This challenge is rooted in our lived experience of mental-health struggles, and in learning how to support one another. It’s about finding the words to ask for help, accepting support, and being there when someone else needs us.
THE MEANING IN THE HANDOVER
Why a relay?
We come to RELAY from two different hometowns, Tótkomlós and Leeds, and different personal experiences. A relay made sense to us for more than practical reasons: one of us carries the journey for a while, then hands it over to the other. Neither of us has to carry the whole 1,500 miles alone.
Over the years, we have both learned something similar in very different ways: there are times in life when you cannot carry everything by yourself. Sometimes you have to ask for help. Sometimes help arrives before you are ready to ask. Either way, accepting it can matter just as much as reaching out.
That is why RELAY became more than the format of the run. It became the message behind it: carry what you can, let somebody help when you cannot, and when you are able, reach back for someone else.
OUR STORY
Two hometowns.
Two lives.
One journey
between them.
In 2027, we’ll run from Tótkomlós in Hungary to Leeds in England, from the place Stephen grew up to the place Terri grew up. But the distance between those two places is only part of the story.
Stephen & Terri
A husband-and-wife relay · Starting 3 April 2027
TWO HOMETOWNS
Two places that shaped us.
THE START
Tótkomlós, Hungary
Stephen’s hometown. The place he grew up, and where we plan to take the first steps of this relay.
THE DESTINATION
Leeds, England
Terri’s hometown. The place she grew up, and where the journey from one hometown to the other will lead.
THE PERSON BEHIND THE MILES
Stephen’s story
Tótkomlós, Hungary
Stephen grew up in Tótkomlós. In 2027, it will become the starting point for a journey towards Terri’s hometown.
Mental health has been part of my own life in different ways, through addiction, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and times when loneliness felt almost physical. I’ve learned that you can have people around you and still feel completely alone.
One of the things that helps me is reaching out. Sometimes that means talking about my own experiences, and sometimes it means simply having a conversation where somebody else feels able to open up.
Helping someone else helps me too. If a conversation makes somebody feel a little less alone, or helps them through a difficult day, that gives something back to me as well.
Running and endurance challenges are another part of that. I’m not a fast runner, and chasing quick times has never been what motivates me. What interests me is distance, endurance and finding out how far I can keep going.
That is part of what RELAY means to me: none of us has to carry everything alone. Sometimes we need somebody else to help carry us forward.
THE PERSON BEHIND THE MILES
Terri’s story
Leeds, England
Terri grew up in Leeds. In 2027, the relay will bring the journey to the place where her part of the story began.
There have been times in my life when things became very dark. I have lived through severe depression, addiction, loss, hospitalisation and suicide attempts, and I know what it is like to reach a point where you cannot see a way forward.
Accepting help has been a huge part of my journey. Recovery did not happen all at once, and it was not always straightforward, but life today looks very different from some of those darkest moments.
Travel, running and taking on challenges have become part of how I want to live now. They give me something to look forward to, something to work towards, and a chance to experience a life I once could not imagine.
RELAY also gives me a way to turn some of what I have been through into something that might help somebody else. If sharing my story makes even one person feel less alone, or helps them believe that things can change, then it is worth sharing.
For me, RELAY is about hope, accepting help when you need it, and one day being able to reach back for somebody else.
ONE SHARED MESSAGE
Two people. Two hometowns. Different journeys. One message.
We came to this message from different places, but we learned the same thing: some things in life are too heavy to carry alone.
Sometimes you have to ask for help. Sometimes help finds you before you are ready to ask. Either way, accepting it can be just as important as reaching out.
That is what RELAY means to us: ask for help, accept it, and when you can, reach back for someone else.
FROM HOME. TOWARDS HOME.
Tótkomlós 🇭🇺 to Leeds 🇬🇧
Two places that helped shape us. One road connecting them.
Stephen & Terri · Login To Our Life