A university lecturer from St Albans has overcome his mental health battles that were stopping him live his everyday life.
Connor Howard, 26, suffered with acute anxiety for as long as he can remember and never found a way to deal with it.
Connor said: “I just ended up locking myself away, I never labelled it as ‘anxiety’ I just thought it was me. My wife and I had just moved to a new city with a new-born baby; I was struggling more than ever.
“I used social media as a distraction and one day an ad came up about a campaign for a four-month physical training programme by Bridgestone for ‘everyday battlers’ that would end in 10km run.”
Connor filled in a very short application, to which he admitted if the process was too long, he probably wouldn’t have completed it.
Connor’s story touched the hearts of the judging panel at Bridgestone and they immediately contacted him to take part.
Bridgestone enlisted the help of gold medallist, Chris Mears and performance psychologist, Professor Greg Whyte, both of whom provided both mental and physical support during Connor and the other eight participants journeys.
After completing the 10km run, Connor said: “It has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have never done anything like this before, but I’m proud to have completed the challenge.
“After each jog I have felt so much better. I’ve found new levels of confidence through this challenge which I never thought I had.
“I am doing so much more now, which I would never have dreamt of doing before the Everyday Battlers campaign begun. It really has been a life changing experience. Since starting this, I have taken more positive lifestyle choices.
“I’ve also realised that it is ok to have bad weeks, as long as I can pick myself up afterwards. As long as you take some positive steps, you can stay in control of it.”
Picture courtesy of Sam Mellish
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