When Chirag Patel hit rock bottom in lockdown, a call to the charity Mind proved a pivotal moment. In the intervening period, he’s transformed both his physical and mental health – and wants to spread the message that ‘there is true strength in vulnerability’. On Sunday, he’ll be lining up at the London Marathon hoping to prove to himself – and others – that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. RW caught up with him to hear more about his transformative journey…
‘A few years ago, I was at one of the lowest points in my life. I felt I had nowhere to turn. I was aware of Mind through their branding and seeing their number plastered everywhere. So I called them, they explained what kind of therapies and services were available, and it was a transformative, “sliding doors” moment for me.
‘I had recently lost my mum, who I’d been so close with. She’d suffered a stroke the year before and I’d gone from someone who was being taken care of to someone who was the caregiver. Watching her deteriorate was really tough. Six weeks after she died, my eldest child was born, so there was a lot going.
‘Something I’ve identified now is that anytime I’m stressed, I overeat. And this stressful period happened to coincide with lockdown. I was eating takeaways most nights. That feeling of being full pushed out all the other feelings I was avoiding. I was also drinking a lot. It all snowballed and I went from a healthy 86kg to 144kg.
‘I just withdrew from society. I didn’t see any of my friends. I didn’t want to go out. I didn’t like the way I looked. I was at rock bottom in terms of self-esteem and self-confidence.
‘My route back to fitness wasn’t primarily through running but resistance training. The running supplemented it – one shorter run and one longer run per week. I soon found myself pushing the distance. And by challenging myself, I noticed my confidence grow, not just inside the gym, but outside it.
‘By doing difficult things that I didn’t initially want to do, like running, it made better at tackling the other things in my life I’d been avoiding. After running, I felt more confident and able to take on the challenges of the day.
‘That’s what made me sign up to the London Marathon: I wanted to take on a really ambitious challenge. When I looked at the charity route, I saw Mind and immediately knew I wanted to raise money for them. I’m a British Indian and, culturally, there’s a big stigma attached to mental health. So another part of the journey was me being able to talk about what I’ve been through. People have reached out to me – old friends and random strangers – thanking me for sharing my story or saying they’re going through the same thing.
‘Mind helped build a marathon training plan for me. It’s based on three runs a week. I’ve had to turn down the resistance training because I can’t fit both things in, but I think training has gone as well as it could have. I’ve missed only two runs in total and am hoping that all the hard work pays off.
‘There is true strength in vulnerability. I used to think that being strong meant ignoring the feelings of despair and never saying “I’m feeling low.” But it’s only when I started speaking up about how I was feeling and what I’d been through, that I saw true progress.
‘Sharing your story is scary, because you feel like you might get judged. But when you become vulnerable and real, it is a powerful moment – and something that can be transformative.’
‘Listen, there are still days when I stare at my running shoes for 20 minutes, putting off going out the door. But pushing yourself to do these things changes the way your mind works. And lots of these challenges, I think, are mostly about mindset.
‘Trying to train for a marathon as a dad of three obviously brings its own challenges, but again, it shows what is possible. If you can do this, you can probably do other things and tackle a lot in your life. We put these limits on ourselves, but there’s usually a way of doing something if you set your mind to it.
‘By running the London Marathon on Sunday, I want to show that, no matter what point you reach in your life, anything is possible.’
Chirag is running the London Marathon in support of Mind: justgiving.com/page/chirag-patel-letsgo
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