4th May 2023

Meet the man running an ultramarathon from London to Rome

Name: Campaign Against Living Miserably
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In 2017 ultrarunner Dan took on an adventure of a lifetime. He ran from Italy to London on his Rome to Home challenge and raised money for CALM’s life-saving services. In 65 days, one man and a backpack covered 1,100 miles to mark a five year recovery from a mental health crisis. Now, Dan is doing it all again in reverse and taking his family along for the ride.

It takes grit to take on a challenge like this. This time round, Dan’ll be almost halving the time it takes him to complete this run. He’ll be averaging 35 miles a day and completing this huge journey in just 35 days - imagine running more than a marathon every day for over a month - IMAGINE.

What got Dan to this point? Well aside from a shit tonne of running, it was Dan’s struggle with mental wellbeing that got him here. The stress and childhood trauma Dan suppressed for years triggered a breakdown. He lost touch with reality, was taken to a psychiatric hospital and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, marking the beginning of a long five year recovery.

Dan started to share his story with family and mates and saw the knock on effect talking had. He chats about this stuff because he knows the difference it can make when someone’s struggling. But talking wasn’t enough for Dan, he wanted to mark his recovery with something bigger.

“I felt like I needed to bookend this chapter, to celebrate recovery and thank everybody that supported me. I was standing opposite the London Eye one New Year’s and the words ‘Rome to Home’ popped into my head.”

It was this split second that would lead Dan to run thousands of miles, meeting friendly wine-wielding Italians and enjoying his very own flyover from the Red Arrows. Dan did it all for CALM, raising money and awareness for anyone struggling and making memories for life along the way.

“In the summer of 2012 I’d started this amazing new job, but it was also a trigger to release a lot of childhood trauma. For the first half of that year I had my foot planted on the accelerator. There was all this adrenaline and I wasn’t looking after myself because I was so focused on work.

“I went on holiday with my wife and ended up having a full scale manic episode. I was hospitalised for three weeks then escorted back to the UK, taken to Maudsley Hospital and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It was a really dark, horrible chapter and I was lucky to have counselling because I was suicidal. It was a five year journey to recovery. I had to start again.”

“The gorgeous Italians looked after me with such good food and on the same day I clocked 1,000 miles nearing Paris, the Red Arrows were returning from a tour and my brother got them to fly nine streams of smoke above my head. My sister crossed the channel to surprise me and so many people wanted to support me.”

Like most adventures, there were moments when things didn’t go to plan. Sleeping in a barn being one of them, but it was this stuff that made the experience even more memorable.

“Late one night I was heading down a dirt track and the hotel I’d planned to stay at wasn’t there anymore. There was a farmyard with stables, so I slept there. In the morning this farmer came down with a shotgun in his trailer. At first he was angry, but I explained what I was doing and he actually donated 50 euros to the adventure.”

Ultra runner Dan took this epic challenge in his stride, but he’s not done yet. On the 29th April 2023, he’ll be heading off from London and running to Rome, this time with his family in tow.

Now a dad to two, Dan’s wife Georgie and their two children Sophia (chief cuteness officer) and Max (head of entertainment) will be joining the adventure in their campervan. So as Dan runs through The Alps, he’ll have his family cheering him along.

“Being with my family for such a unique challenge will be amazing. They’ll be tagging along in the motorhome and will also get to experience the landscape, revisiting some of the places I ran before.”

Dan’s pretty laid back about preparing for the run and is determined to stay positive about the road ahead. His challenge won’t be about personal bests or pushing himself to the max, he’s there for the experience and to share his story.

“I’m a huge believer in enjoying the journey. I could grind out 35 miles a day in the fastest time, but I don’t need to because I’ve got all day to do that mileage."

"I’ll be seeing how I’m feeling throughout the day and being kind to my body. If that means I need to stop and stretch, eat on the road, or walk for a bit then it’s all good.”

Lots of us would be taking on a gruelling training plan for this kind of thing, but part of seasoned ultra runner Dan’s prep has included making sure he’s not overtraining:

“The first leg of the challenge is quite flat and my body will be waking up to what I’m asking of it. Ultra running is like an eating competition with a bit of running on the side, so I’ll also be demolishing as much food as possible. But above all, I’ll be carrying the positive energy because I feel lucky to have this experience with my family.”

Dan’s keen to help anyone finding things tough and this is the driving force behind doing the challenge. Not only will his run be a poignant reflection on where he’s come from, but it’s also a chance to show that it’s possible to get through some really crap times.

Dan’s hoping to raise enough money to fund over 2,500 calls to the helpline because he knows the difference this support makes when you’re at rock bottom.

“It really sucks to be miserable. It sucks to be depressed. It sucks to be suicidal. CALM is trailblazing the conversation and literally saving lives. I want to help people by sharing my experience because there’s power in being vulnerable about this stuff and it helps other people to talk about it.”

You can follow Dan’s incredible journey as it happens, or if you’d like to find out more about his story and want to support him, head to his fundraising page.

Inspired to do something you’ve always wanted to do against living miserably? You’ll find loads of inspo and info on our website.