An Ottawa man is preparing to run 200 miles in support of mental health awareness. Rudi Asseer will be taking on the Divide 200 ultramarathon on Aug. 10. He will have five days, or 100 hours, to complete the race on demanding Alberta terrain that features over 40,000 feet of climbing — something he’s never done before. “My why is really around awareness. It’s looking at some of the challenges that we have and saying, ‘hey, anything is possible if you take one step at a time,’” Asseer said. “I really want to bring awareness to those that are suffering, are going through different things and saying like it’s difficult is life may be one step at a time. Things can get better and the biggest thing is, is you’re not alone.” Asseer has completed marathons through Canada and the United States. He says he feels like his entire life has led me to this moment. “I’ve been an endurance athlete pretty much throughout my life. I’ve been doing marathons. I was a former cyclist, having a lot of fun, and I just love pushing my body to seeing what is capable of doing,” said Asseer. “I’ve done a couple hundred mile ultramarathons in the past.” This race is also a personal one for Asseer, who is running to honour the memory of his sister, Martha. “Unfortunately, mental illness got the better of her. She suffered from bipolar disease and really had a struggle and a hard time trying to get access to resources and things,” said Asseer. Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, an ICU physician at the Ottawa Hospital, says the mental health crisis is real and he sees it on a regular basis in the intensive care unit. “The amount of people that are coming in with self-harm, that commit suicide. In some ways, it feels like these issues are getting worse, especially for our youth. Anything we can do to draw attention or anything we can do to put more resources into this,” says Kyeremanteng. Kyeremanteng says we all need to do our part to try and address these issues and he is in full support of Asseer’s initiative. “I think this is incredible. It really is special what Rudi is doing. The physical aspect of it, running the 200 miles. This is something that even me thinking about gives me chest pains,” said Kyeremanteng. “Mental health is affecting so many of us. One thing that is important with this race and drawing awareness to it. If you need help, if you’re struggling, don’t be shy to reach out for help. We don’t want to see you struggle. It impacts so many parts of your life. We see it,” said Kyeremanteng. After Asseer lost his sister to mental illness, it drove him to make a change in his community by virtue of his organization, which Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng sits on as Chief Medical Officer. Asseer is the CEO and chairman of Mindstride, an Ottawa-based organization bringing mental health awareness and solutions to the workplace and medical and wellness services. “When I started Mindstride, I really wanted to make a change, to make resources more available to those in need places,” said Asseer. Asseer will be supported by his K2 Ultra Running Crew through his run, but he’s completely on his own from start to finish. “About the halfway point, you’re allowed to start to have pacers within the race. My team will join me and will take certain sections and legs and run alongside with me, especially at night and different things when things start to get a little strenuous and get a little tired, a little confused out there, it’s always nice to have a pacer with you,” said Asseer. There are 12 aid stations scattered throughout the course which are equipped with hot food and hydration. Aside from the aid stations, Asseer says he will be running all day and all night until he’s finished. “There is this one thing called dirt naps, where individuals will be running along and they’re like, ‘oh my God, I’m so tired. I just need to take a quick nap.’ They’ll just literally lay down on the trail and go to sleep for a few minutes. Hopefully you’re doing it with your pacer, who can stand guard and watch for what’s in the environment but yeah, it’s full on,” said Asseer. While making strides to conquer mental health, Asseer says he just wants to get out the message that no one is alone and if you need help, to reach out. “I’m a big advocate for mental health. I just really want people to know that if you’re suffering, if anything is going on, there are resources that are out there. We need to stand for our community. We’re losing far too many fantastic people in our town. I really hope that this sheds a light on it that,” said Asseer. Asseer and Kyeremanteng hope this race will encourage others to speak up. “Destigmatizing, increasing the awareness, being open to having these conversations, I think can move the needle,” said Kyeremanteng.
