Drake Creative

How do you turn a 50-mile run, undertaken somewhat impulsively by a nonprofit CEO who loves a challenge, into a movement? We started by adding two extra miles to her run. Those two miles, more than many of us will run on any give day, helped us make this extreme act about ending the stigma around mental healthcare.

We wanted to create something with staying power because we figured, why run 52 miles once, when you can do it every single year? And every time you do, you add more people to the mix, you engage more of the community, and eventually more and more people are speaking, comfortably and without stigma, about the importance of mental health as part of their physical wellness.

To give a campaign like this broad appeal, it certainly helps to have charismatic group of leaders, Wellness Warriors in this case.

To take positive messages into public spaces that reinforce campaign themes and promote mental health.

You have to have swag, and all of us do now.

And you want to guide people. Not everyone runs 52 miles in one go. Some of us take the month, and maybe we hike, or walk our dogs, invite friends along, and get outside to see this beautiful region we live in. For that reason, we provided extensive trail maps, clear campaign markers, worked agreements with trail associations and New York State, and encouraged healthy conversation among people for the entire month of October 2024.

And you get people at the finish line to cheer on these extreme athletes who care so much about the people of this region, they’ll push themselves to the absolute edge.

We’re already planning the 2025 event to have an even greater impact on mental health in the Hudson Valley. Get out there with us: fifty2endstigma.org