Each day after work, three young Dunedin flatmates routinely find themselves sitting on the couch, cursorily asking each other how their day was.
Then they invariably go straight into killing people on the Xbox.
But this month, glazier Alex Boomer, 22, groundsman Luke Tuten, 22 and builder Jed Collings, 24, have decided to take men’s mental health more seriously, and run 800km between them to raise money during Movember.
Mr Collings said each of them knew someone who had experienced mental health issues and had seen how it affected them, their friends and their families.
He said recent data showed 22% of men experienced poor mental wellbeing and men accounted for nearly three-quarters of suspected self-inflicted deaths in New Zealand.
“We all know of people and I guess some of our other friends have had to deal with it.
“We were surprised at how prominent it is, how common it is — unbelievable really.”
The trio of tradies aimed to break down the stigma surrounding men’s mental health.
“The old ‘she’ll be right’ sort of thing, is a big problem,” Mr Collings said.
“Just getting blokes to get together and talk about it, could be part of the solution.
“Our message has been, ‘check in on your mates’.”
He said the lads met each other through playing football for the Dunedin City Royals and it was inevitable they would end up running the 800km together.
Lads who live together, play together. And those who played together, could also do extraordinary things for the community together, he said.
So, instead of watching TV or playing Xbox after work each day, they were running about 10km — not including football training or games — in a bid to raise $5000.
“Part of the reason we do it together, is to support each other through it.
“It encourages you to get out of bed in the morning when you don’t really want to.”
Mr Collings said they were finding the running itself was very good for their own mental health.
“It’s amazing how much good some physical activity does — getting you off the couch and just getting some sun on you.
“Even if you’ve had a bad day, at least you’ve done something that’s good for you and good for other men around New Zealand.”
• To donate, visit: @larkruns