(March 22, 2017) Matt Fitzgerald is one of the world's most respected endurance sports authorities, with a string of books on diet and nutrition for athletes to his credit, and has written on the topic for national publications such as Maxim, Men's Fitness, Men's Health, Men's Journal, Outside, Shape, Stuff, and Women's Health.
Matt is also a certified sports nutritionist and endurance sports coach, serving as a consultant to numerous sports nutrition companies, designing readymade and customized training plans for triathletes and runners. He has become an accomplished long-distance runner in his own right after picking the sport back up again at age 27. Now you can add another title to his resume: mental health philanthropist and advocate.
This past Sunday, he embarked on a journey of eight marathons in eight weeks, spread across the United States. Stretching from coast to coast, his marathon of marathons began in Modesto in his home state of California, winds its way to Boston and finishes in the runner's mecca of Eugene, Oregon. ("Area runner, author begins unique '8 in 8' journey at Modesto Marathon," Oakdale Leader, March 15)
This grueling endeavor is key component of the Fitzgerald's research for his current "Life Is a Marathon" project. Matt will explore "the marathon mystique," as he calls it, and he hopes this endeavor will result in another book to add to his long list of titles on endurance sports.
It's a quest fueled by something greater than his passion for endurance sports, though: his love for his wife, Nataki.
Fitzgerald is keeping a blog on the project on his "Life Is a Marathon" Facebook page. He concluded his introductory post by stating he is: "using this project as a platform to raise money for the Treatment Advocacy Center, an organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to treatment of mental illness." A few posts later, Fitzgerald reveals the personal motivation behind his fundraising efforts, Nataki's diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2004.
I have never revealed this information publicly, and I do so now for the first time with her consent and encouragement. It's not a big deal to say, "I have diabetes." But mental illness carries a stigma that makes its sufferers and their families reticent to open up. One of Nataki's and my hopes for this project is that it will lessen the stigma of mental illness just a bit.
We salute and thank Matt Fitzgerald for his efforts to further our cause, both by raising awareness and by raising funds, and we encourage our supporters to follow Matt's journey on his Facebook.
While we all cannot embark on such Herculean efforts to benefit an important cause near to our hearts, we can all do our part in small ways, through our words and deeds, to help eliminate the barriers to treatment of mental illness. We encourage you to follow Matt's lead, by having the courage to share your stories, with us and through social media, and by supporting our work through donations.
You can support Matt and the Treatment Advocacy Center by making a donation here.
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Photo credit: Matt Fitzgerald