Published on: 14 August 2024
A Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust psychiatrist has raised more than £11,000 by completing an epic series of marathons and runs for charity.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Subodh Dave, 56, has spent the last six months on an epic mission to raise thousands of pounds for Doctors in Distress, a charity that promotes and protects the mental health of healthcare workers across the UK, with the aim of preventing suicides in the medical profession.
His final challenge was The Comrades marathon, where around 20,000 runners race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg in South Africa in a cut-off time of 12 hours. It was the final event in an endeavour that has seen Subodh run more than 1,100 miles since January, taking on a marathon a month in cities from Mumbai to London.
The hilly route is the equivalent of running up Snowdon twice and back down once, and Subodh, a consultant psychiatrist at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, managed to complete it in just over 8 and a half hours – an astounding feat.
Subodh, who is also Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a Trustee of Doctors in Distress, said: “I ran well until about 50km, not stopping at all and managing a slow and steady run even up the steepest hills.
“Towards the end, I came close to giving up. Miraculously, one of the supporters walked up to me and said ‘It’s only 4km from here. You can do it.’ That pep talk was enough to get me going again. I ran all the way to the finish, ending the long race in 8 hours and 33 minutes!”
During training, Subodh said the biggest challenge was putting in the miles on top of a busy working life.
"I find that quite exhausting," he said. "Some days you have a full day of work then you have a 20-mile run to do."
Subodh is passionate about this cause, having lost two colleagues to suicide in the past.
He said: "When you've worked with someone for years and one day they're suddenly gone, it is quite a devastating thing.
"Part of you feels should you have done something different. When someone dies like that, it leaves a mark on a lot of people.
"The funds we raise help us run groups that provide safe spaces for people to talk about how they are feeling. We know these safe spaces can be literally lifesaving."
Subodh has smashed his original target of £8,000, raising more than £11,000 for Doctors in Distress.
He added: “I want to say a big thanks to everyone who supported me with their kind words through this period of gruelling training and indeed through donations for Doctors in Distress.
“The fact that I had smashed the target amount was a big fillip for me even before I had started Comrades.”
Dr Arun Chidambaram, Medical Director at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are all very proud of what Subodh has achieved.
“We take the mental health and wellbeing of our colleagues extremely seriously and understand the pressures they are under. The Trust values our colleagues’ commitment to the profession, particularly as we are a provider of mental health services.
He added: “We applaud Subodh’s commitment to the cause of clinician support espoused by “Doctors in Distress” charity”.
If you would like to donate to Subodh, you can find his JustGiving page at Subodh Dave is fundraising for Doctors in Distress (justgiving.com)
