![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PC3LXCH4NZGWHJ4U3MBQTTR6MI.jpg\")
Const. Will Davis Const. Davis seen here running in the Hamilton Marathon Road 2 Hope in 2024. (Supplied) <\/p>\nConst. William Davis says he is running the marathon in full uniform as a way of highlighting the invisible weight officers carry with their mental health. <\/p>\n
A police officer is running a marathon in Mississauga today and says he is doing it in full uniform as a way of making the \u201cunseen trauma\u201d of mental health struggles, quietly carried by officers and their loved ones, visible.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking that first step for people that are suffering from mental health is, I think, a big challenge,\u201d Const. Will Davis, of Peel Regional Police, said in an interview with CTV News Toronto. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of this big symbol, a metaphor if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Beneva Mississauga Marathon started early Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m., kicking off at Celebration Square with the circuit ending at Lakefront Promenade Park.<\/p>\n
Some marathoners may sport a weighted vest, but Davis will be running the track in full uniform and equipment. <\/p>\n
Davis said he drew inspiration from a hero of his, David Goggins, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL and motivational speaker known for running with a weighted vest. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the trauma and some of the things that police and first responders have to see, you know, it can stack up,\u201d Davis said. \u201cSomeone\u2019s worst day is maybe a police officer\u2019s Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The constable, who has been serving Peel Regional Police for eight years, says he has participated in several tests of endurance, including triathlons and Ironman races. But Davis had to train a little bit differently for this marathon.<\/p>\n
Const. Will Davis Const. Davis seen here running in the Hamilton Marathon Road 2 Hope in 2024. (Supplied) <\/p>\n
\u201cThe fitness staff at Peel (Regional) Police has been gracious enough to lend me a belt. I don\u2019t think they like me running around in my uniform training, so I have a training belt, and then my training vest,\u201d Davis said. Since he is also wearing equipment, Davis said his stride could be impacted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done some runs but having it on the waist is 10 times harder because it really just, it locks your hips and it makes it really hard to kind of get a good groove going, but you can do it. It just, you know, hurts a bit more,\u201d Davis said. <\/p>\n
This race, however, is his first where he will be running in his gear as a way of raising awareness for police officers and first responders. <\/p>\n
Davis says he partnered with Canada Beyond the Blue, a non-profit organization that serves to support enforcement officers and their families. Together, the Run to Raise initiative<\/a> was launched as a way of encouraging others to participate in the Mississauga marathon, where they donate to the cause or run in the race themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cThey provide resources, mental health resources, to police officers and their families, as well as families of fallen officers,\u201d Davis explained. Some of those supports include mental health programs and resources and assistance for retired members, according to his GoFundMe campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n Running for this cause is especially important to Davis, as he said he had lost a good friend to suicide about three years ago. <\/p>\n \u201cHe wasn\u2019t in policing, but one of those things where I saw him kind of drifting off a little bit and he wasn\u2019t talking as much, and you want to give people your space,\u201d Davis said. <\/p>\n \u201cSometimes that can be a good indicator, when someone\u2019s kind of pulling away and not talking \u2026 it\u2019s good to check in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Const. William Davis says he is running the marathon in full uniform as a way of highlighting the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194297],"tags":[712,49,48,55405],"class_list":["post-629933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mississauga","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mississauga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}