Running Through Grief: Mental Health, Loss & Purpose After COVID

What happens when grief knocks the wind out of your life — and you’re forced to find a way to keep moving?In this powerful and deeply human episode, we sit down with Michael, an accomplished runner and satellite leader for FORDY RUNS Running Club in Catford, to talk about how running quite literally saved his life.After losing his dad to COVID during the pandemic, Michael found himself battling depression and emotional numbness. Motivation disappeared. Direction vanished. But one step — and then another — slowly changed everything.Michael opens up about:Losing his father during the pandemic and the emotional aftermathHow depression showed up in his daily lifeDiscovering running as a tool for survival, not performanceThe mental clarity, discipline, and community that running gave himBecoming a FORDY RUNS satellite leader and helping others find their strideWhy running is about more than medals — it’s about staying aliveThis episode is for anyone navigating grief, mental health struggles, or searching for purpose. Whether you’re a runner, thinking about starting, or just need to hear that recovery is possible — Michael’s story will stay with you.🎧 If running has ever helped you through a dark moment — or you hope it might — this conversation is for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.