Marathon 4 Mental Health
A flexible marathon - wherever you are in the world.
ISWAN
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MHG Insurance
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Burgess
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Seas The Mind
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Superyacht Services Guide
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Hill Robinson
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ISWAN ∙ MHG Insurance ∙ Burgess ∙ Seas The Mind ∙ Superyacht Services Guide ∙ Hill Robinson ∙
A flexible marathon,
built around you.
Run, walk or hike 26.2 miles to fit your schedule throughout October 2026 to raise money for charity and building awareness for mental health resources specific to you and your community.
Break it up however you want.
5k runs, lunchtime walks, a weekend hike with mates.
Who’s this marathon for?
Everyone.
Our origin is in the seafaring community but we have grown to incorporate everyone!
Where crew experience long hours, isolation from home and little time for themselves, the risk factors of poor mental health sky rockets. We started in this niche to combat the mental health epidemic at sea.
Marathon For Mental Health (M4) is here to change that, by giving a simple, flexible challenge to reconnect with your mental and physical well-being, no matter where you are in the world.
M4's impact is both individual and systemic, building a global movement where movement itself becomes the catalyst for change.
❝ M4 honestly was a breath of fresh air to push us through the last stretch of our season.
It provided us with a fun and healthy outlet whilst raising awareness with regards to mental health and the wellbeing thereof within our community
Thank you, to Mel, and her amazing team, for connecting us in this journey and for motivating everyone to contribute towards the resources and tools to aid in bettering people’s mental wellbeing. ❞
Katerina - South Africa
The WHY
When you enter Marathon for Mental Health, you commit to fundraising a minimum amount for a charity of choice.
We encourage you to choose a charity which means something to you but we do have charity partners you might like to choose!
For hospitality professionals we partner with Kelly’s Cause, a mental health charity provides mental health training and 1:1 support.
For seafarers & maritime businesses we partner with International Seafarer Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN). ISWAN supports seafarers and their families around the world with their free helpline services, educational resources, relief funds and humanitarian support.
For the queer community we partner with Switchboard LGBTQ+ charity who offer wellbeing support and a free 24/7 helpline.
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The countdown to Marathon 4 Mental Health
Our Story
Hey, I’m Mel
❝ Having worked in all things mental health since my exit as a yacht chef in 2020, I could see there was a void between the amazing resources that already exist and the communication of those resources to people that need it most.
Having uncovered the mental benefits of training for the London marathon, I remembered it would have been impossible for me to enter a marathon when I was working at sea, but getting out for a jog or hike was always a great way to shake off the stress of the job.
Plenty of people have life stressors, working environments or potential health conditions that mean training for a full marathon in one go isn’t accessible for them.
I thought it would be awesome to build a marathon that everyone could ACTUALLY take part in and give them access to the welfare resources to keep them well in the process.
Add in an element of giving back to charity to boost the feel-good factor and the picture was complete! I can tell you more about the journey - just hit the button below. ❞
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Choose from our Eco Entry (online only entry £10) or Standard Entry (£30) which includes a feel-good hat and medal pin.
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We will send you a link to a personal fundraising page which directly links to ISWAN charity so that you can raise money to keep their seafarer welfare services alive.
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Work our how you might split up your marathon miles. Run 2 half marathons. Perhaps a 5k run and split up the rest as 3 big hikes with your pals on the weekend. Perhaps attend one of our international community 5ks.
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Join us on socials & Strava and share your marathon journey. There will be plenty of us to hype you on!
How to get involved
