2XU x Grassroots
On Saturday 26th February, 2XU and Brighton Marathon welcomed runners raising money for Grassroots Suicide Prevention, to the iconic Brighton seafront, to kick off this unique collaboration.
The event was led by 2XU ambassador Luke Tyburski who took participants through a brief warm up on the pebbled beach, which led into a short training run, followed by interviews with some of the runners. Luke also gave an inspirational talk about his experiences of running ultra-endurance events and his own battles with mental health.
2XU has been a main partner of the Brighton Marathon Weekend for four years, in which time the teams have built a close association with the event and the local area. 2XU want to promote the benefits of exercise and activity - helping people on their physical and mental journey and when better than during a run, a swim, a gym session and so much more.
Mike Martin, Sales & Marketing Director EMEA at 2XU said, “We want to create a fitter and healthier world both physically and mentally. 2XU is a brand that embraces change, and we want to encourage these changes by saying yes, despite the unknown’s, being able to control what we can control and essentially letting go of the rest. ‘Change says yes!’
2XU has been the proud compression and apparel sponsor for Brighton Marathon Weekend for 4 years and in 2022 we wanted to do more to help the broader community of the Brighton marathon by helping to raise awareness and funds for our chosen charity partner, ‘Grassroots Suicide Prevention’. The last few years have been hard for us all, so now, more than ever, it is important we look after our mental health. We believe exercise in any form can be a great help to improve one’s mental health so wish to use our platform to help to remove the stigma around mental health, encourage people to change their habits and say ‘yes to change’.”
When Brighton Marathon introduced 2XU to the team at Grassroots Suicide Prevention, we instantly recognised the support and understanding the charity required for us to support participants running the Brighton Marathon. As a key charity partner of Brighton Marathon Weekend, 2XU felt it was the best opportunity to support the charities families and friends taking on the event and raising money for the charity.
Any money raised directly supports the services which make Grassroots a UK leader in suicide prevention. They help to create safe spaces in our communities for lifesaving conversations about suicide, and support people to develop the skills and confidence needed to save lives.
For this year’s event taking place on Sunday 10th April, 2XU are providing a special co-branded running shirt for the Grassroots Suicide Prevention participants. 5% of all 2XU tracked online sales through the Brighton Marathon Weekend partnership will be donated to Grassroots Suicide Prevention.
The collaboration is a first for the two partners but it’s a fantastic opportunity to also help the Grassroots Suicide Prevention runners share their inspirational stories and raise much needed funds for a good cause.
Over the course of the next few weeks, we will introduce you to just a few of the Grassroots Suicide Prevention runners.
“The more we publicise it and talk about it, the better reach we have, and hopefully we can prevent someone doing something”
Grassroots Suicide Prevention & 2XU
Alex McCabery is running this year’s Brighton Marathon for Grassroots Suicide Prevention, shares her story on her battle with mental health, why she thinks there should be more awareness around suicide prevention, and she has a message for this year’s marathon participants.
Jim’s story.
"Having lost someone to suicide, you spend a lot of time thinking about what you could have said..."
Jim Herrity, running this year’s Brighton Marathon for Grassroots Suicide Prevention in memory of his brother, shares his connection with mental health and how it’s impacted his life. He also shares his insight on how we can break the stigma around mental health and get people talking more.