team tears – saving lives – we did it

good morning bigmoose blog subscriber,

thanks for opening this blog and giving me your time, it really means a lot to me.

somebody recently wrote me a long, kind email extolling the virtues of the recent bigmoose ultra fun run, and it made me feel very proud, and provided me with warm fuzzies galore.

i replied, saying that i was a big fan of making people feel good, and how in every interaction i always try to make people feel valued, appreciated, and if possible, special.

i highlighted how his email had made me feel, and by you reading my weekly scribings, you do the same, providing me with large servings of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, also known as the feel good hormone, that gives a sense of pleasure.

so as i said, thanks.

the ultra fun run he wrote of also delivered dopamine in articulated lorry loads.

first, the magnificent way our community (you) supported us, allowing us to sell out 6069 tickets to take part around the world, truly one of the proudest things i have been fortunate enough to have been involved with.

second, the absolute love that enveloped bute park, everybody smiling, laughing, supporting and celebrating, i loved it.

we decided to stagger the starts of the various distances for safety and to avoid bottlenecks, which worked well, and chloe and i addressed each distance from a raised stage area, explaining the significance of 6069 representing the lives lost to suicide in 2023 in england and wales, and asked people to take part in a 30 second round of applause to celebrate their lives, which was extremely powerful and poignant to watch and hear, with crowds of up to 2000 before each distance.

last year i cried five times, due to the emotional stories people shared with me, and i planned to try to stay really strong this year, and as i spoke to people who had lost their wives, their sons, and somebody who was to share we had saved her own life, i stayed extremely strong, holding back the tears, but i didn’t know what was ahead.

being at ground level, the size of the crowd before the start of each distance was impossible to see.

but from the stage area, the almost two thousand throng of people, all wearing their tribal colours of orange and white spotty bigmoose shirts, were very visible, and the magnitude was somewhat overwhelming, and as i watched our team climb the stairs to a higher elevation, i watched the emotions of the event and what all their hard work had created wash over them, and as they descended back we hugged as a group, a team, and i unashamedly broke, as did all the team.

the symbolism did not escape me.

i feel very privileged to have experienced this event, with a lot of my family and friends volunteering and taking part, so thank you if you came, and thank you if you supported in any way at all, the power of this bigmoose community we have all become is incredible, and continues to help those that desperately need it, and together we will continue to save lives, a greater goal i cannot think of.

thank you,

blue skies,

jeff