In the upcoming Dunedin half-marathon on September 10, third-year Geography student Christian plans on running barefoot in the name of mental health awareness. Most of us will barely leave the house to put the bins out without chucking on a pair of slippers (there’s glass around these parts, to be fair) let alone getting the dogs out for a whopping 21km. Critic Te Ārohi caught up with the madman for a yarn about this feat that will undoubtedly leave both spectators and his mum stunned at his mental and physical fortitude.
Chris said that the idea “just came to me” after he began considering his own mental struggles from years prior. And as a subbie at Carrington, Chris had become accustomed to seeing the consequences of poor mental health within the students he talked to on a daily basis. Eventually he decided he wanted to do “more to create change,” targeting the marathon as a way to raise money and “get people talking” about the pertinent issue.
As you’d imagine, training barefoot in North D hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park. Unless that park was actually a dump. And made of broken glass. “Glass [is] the number one issue during the run,” admitted a downtrodden Chris. He took aim at the plight of ‘bottling’ on Castle St, stating that he would rather run the entire marathon barefoot than run 1km through the student heartland. “It’s pretty fucked,” he said. “You just know they wouldn’t be throwing bottles if they weren’t drunk and surrounded by all their mates.”
Though Chris’ main goal for the run is to raise money, it’s also been an opportunity for him to tap into a movement which he admits a heavy affection for: ‘grounding’. It’s based on the belief that bare feet activity is better for you physiologically that began in response to muscle problems coinciding with the advent of technological advance in cushioned soles. Chris told Critic that grounding acted as a really effective anti-stress mechanism, stating there were a number of mental benefits you could “pick up from the Earth’s energy.” Though he admitted to this sounding “a bit hippie-ish”, he vouched for the movement's validity and potential benefits for the future, and he invited everyone to support his run.
If you would like to donate in support of Chris’ plight, search him up on Move for mental health or follow this link: https://movefor.mentalhealth.org.nz/christian-griffin