Darius - Southampton Half Marathon for Yellow Door

About Yellow Door:
Yellow Door are a Southampton based charity that offer a range of specialist therapeutic, support and prevention services to anyone at risk from or affected by domestic abuse, sexual violence/abuse or other forms of interpersonal harm, across Hampshire. This is inclusive of all backgrounds, ages and genders.

They have been operating in Southampton for over 40 years and last year supported 4,772 individuals. Yellow Door heavily rely on donations to keep these services accessible and I believe it is crucial they are there for those who need them.

About Me:
This will be my first 1/2 marathon I have ever done, this time last year the furthest I had ran was for the bus, I never thought I could do something of this intensity. This journey started last year watching the 2025 runners and I felt inspired watching a good friend run, along with all of the other dedicated runners. 

Running the half marathon was first a bit of a joke at first between my partner and I - I was not fit, I had never ran before and never particularly had the urge to. I was inspired in the moment and I thought "why not?", that same evening I brought my placement in the 2026 1/2 marathon, that way I wasn't going to talk myself out of it. 

While signing up, I knew I wanted to run for a good cause and this was Yellow Door.

On a personal level, I owe Yellow Door a great debt. Although I have not used their services myself, someone very close to me did rely on their services and benefited greatly by their approach. I fully believe that if they did not have the help of Yellow Door during this extremely dark time, they would not be here with us today. As such I feel a great debt owed that I could never truly repay but if I can help them fund support to others then I know someone else will feel the same gratitude I do.

So Far:
I wanted to make sure I was committed to this. At the time I was in a dark place mentally myself and having this as a goal, really helped me keep going. One step at a time. 

Like alot of people taking up running, I started with Couch to 5k, to begin with I couldn't run without stopping for 30 seconds but I stuck though it. 

After this I started running here and there with no real plan, just keep running and adding to my mileage. 

I am now running a set plan to get me ready for run day, most days I really do not want to run but I am still doing it as I know it's for a good cause. I have no goal other than to finish the run, I am not an athlete or anything close but I am the fittest I have ever been. 

Although I do complain about running to anyone who asks, it has been a huge help for me over the last few months. I have gone from 123kg to 98kg, physically feeling the best I ever have. It has also helped me mentally, I have less bad days and can use it as an outlet to refresh my mental state. The goal of this fundraiser has kept me going and I will keep going until I am over that finishing line.

Domestic and sexual abuse can sadly happen to anyone. In a perfect world it would not exist but in our world it does. We need services such as Yellow Door to help those who are impacted. Please donate if you can, every penny really does count. 

Thank you 
Darius