Tough trip for charity

Shanon Stallard will swim, run and cycle on his five-day 900km awareness-raising trip for Mental Health Week. Picture / Jason Oxenham

Off to Wellington... the hard way

Shanon Stallard will swim, run and cycle on his five-day 900km awareness-raising trip for Mental Health Week. Picture / Jason Oxenham

A chilly 1km swim is in store for Shanon Stallard today as he leaves Mission Bay on a journey of a lifetime - swimming, running and cycling his way to Wellington in five days to raise awareness about mental health.

A seasoned ironman competitor, the 34-year-old knows all about challenges - he has competed in triathlons and ironman events around the world.

In his latest adventure, he will race 900km from Auckland to Wellington in open water swims, cycling and running.

Stallard said he originally planned the city-to-city venture as a training run for ironman races coming up over summer.

"I needed to do a big training week in October and just lying in bed one night I thought wouldn't it be cool to go from Auckland to Wellington.

"I wanted to do this for the Mental Health Foundation and then I looked and it was Mental Health Week."

Mental health awareness was an issue close to home, Stallard said, as he had suffered from severe anxiety himself after chronic fatigue and glandular fever, forcing him to take 18 months off racing and turn down a contract in Germany.

Family members and friends had also suffered from depression and his race was about raising awareness just as much as it was about funding the foundation, he said.

"A lot of men in particular aren't comfortable talking about mental health issues - they feel like it's not a manly thing to do.

"A lot of people don't know how to identify when there's someone struggling with mental health."

To check his progress or to donate to his cause check out www.shanonstallard.com/citytocity