South Yorkshire runners have come together in force in support of Men’s Mental Health Awareness month.

Dave Krangel, 53, the Director of MoRunning, from Surrey said: “Our goals are to get people focusing on their health and mental wellbeing, and if we stop one person ending their life then we have achieved something worthwhile.” 

Krangel created MoRunning in 2009 to support the Movember charity: “It means a great deal and I’m super proud of what we have created and all the people that help make these events a success.”

The MoRun event was held at Graves Park on Saturday 16 November, where participants ran 5k, 10k and half-marathons to fundraise for Movember.

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Krangel said: “It’s really important to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues and if we can help make it easier and support them more then that’s a step in the right direction.”

MoRunning has hosted events all across the UK with this being the first MoRun held in Sheffield.

The event raised £1100, which goes towards funding awareness and support for mental health and suicide prevention as well as testicular and prostate cancer.

Aidan McNiffe, 25, a technician from Barnsley, ran the 10k in under an hour and has been raising awareness and support for his community on Facebook.

He said: “When so many people come together in an event like MoRunning to recognise and tackle the issue, it really does fill me with a sense of pride and joy.

“The reason I got involved is due to my own experiences struggling with my mental health. My vision is that men will be able to communicate honestly about their problems without feeling embarrassed or judged,” said Mr McNiffe.

Chris Morris, 47, the Development Manager of Solsken Care from Cheshire, has been raising awareness for Movember for the past 15 years by dying his hair and shaving the Movember moustache into it.

He said: “If I save just one life because of me having a silly hair colour then it’s gotta be worth doing.

“A lot of people were really struggling with their mental health and instead of just doing the fundraising side of it, I wanted a way of getting people to re-engage with each other.”

For support or to learn more about Movember visit the Movember site and to get involved in running events visit MoRunning.