Running for a cause

UVic student Jordan Moore is running 150 laps around Ring Road this month in support of ‘Movember’

Movember is here again (and almost over!), which means you’ve likely noticed an increase in men’s facial hair on campus this month. From those sporting ‘handlebars’ or ‘horseshoes,’ to the many peach fuzz ‘staches and patchy beards in between, November is the month where we talk about men’s mental health — and maybe grow a moustache to support the movement.

While walking across campus, maybe you also noticed one man sporting an impeccable moustache of his own while running countless  laps on the sidewalk that wraps itself around Ring Road. If you’ve seen him upwards of 70 times and thought to yourself, ‘wow, he’s really fit! Good for him!’ you wouldn’t be mistaken.

But Jordan Moore is running for much more than his own fitness.

“Last year I kind of started running a lot, I did a half marathon [in] October, so I just decided it’s something I’m good at and I can do a lot,” says Moore. “And then Movember came around, and … my roomate [and I] did our own personal donation thing. We didn’t do anything specific to fundraise, we just said ‘hey, we’re growing mustaches! If you guys wanna donate to us, that would be awesome,’” says Moore.

While Moore, a fourth-year Business student, and his roommate were able to raise $365 for their campaign last year, the Victoria runner has his eyes set on a bigger goal this time around.

“Even last year … I saw the ‘Move for Movember’ [campaign], and I’m like ‘oh, that’s totally something I could do!’”

The Move for Movember initiative asks fundraisers to form a team where every member will run at least 60 kilometres over the month — one kilometre for each of the 60 men lost to suicide every hour — in support of men’s health.

Moore hopes running around campus will inspire students to think about their own mental health.

Moore knew, however, that he could challenge himself more than running only 60 kilometres in a month, and wanted to set a loftier goal that would gain more attention and raise greater awareness.

“60 kilometres, that’s totally awesome, but I know I can do more than that,” says Moore. “I want to do something that’s personally challenging, as well as something [that raises more awareness]. Doing 60 kilometres is awesome … but I think I can do something a little bigger just to get more people involved.”

Having completed the GoodLife Victoria marathon in October, he decided to set a personal goal of running 150 laps around Ring Road — roughly 270 kilometres total — over the course of the month in support of his team’s Move for Movember initiative.

Running a single lap around Ring Road can be daunting enough, with the undulating hills and rugged sidewalks along the Fine Arts and Engineering and Computer Science buildings, but Moore hopes running around campus will inspire students to think about their own mental health.

The Kamloops native is motivated by his own personal connection to men’s health, as his dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago and his grandfather died of prostate cancer.  

“If you take care of yourself, it’s so much easier to be positive, spread good energy and good vibes.”

“It’s definitely something that’s in my family,” says Moore. “Just as much as I do it for Movember, I think it’s good to [generally] be aware of [your overall] health.”

Running was never something Moore focused on in high school, having stuck to hockey and soccer growing up.He found the sport later in life and credits it for keeping him in shape and maintaining a  good state of mental well-being.

“I do it as my own hobby, [I’ll] go run around the city, explore a little bit,” says Moore. “It just feels good.”

Moore believes running can be an incredibly effective way to address physical and mental health.

“I think it’s the perfect thing to promote mental health, because I believe exercise is a huge part [of that]. If you take care of yourself, it’s so much easier to be positive, spread good energy and good vibes.”

A nagging knee injury put Moore slightly behind pace of his goal of 150 laps, but regardless of whether he achieves his goal or not, the UVic student hopes his team’s goal will encourage people to donate and talk about their own health in general.

“You can do anything you can to spread the word [about] something you believe in. I just did this all out of nowhere,” says Moore.

“To get that awareness out, if [it’s] something meaningful to you, it’s always good to do whatever you can.”

As of Nov. 27, Moore has completed 120 laps of Ring Road, and is expected to hit 150 laps by Nov. 30.

Moore and his team, ‘Flowshow and the Bois’, plan to raise $1 500 this month. To donate visit https://ca.movember.com/donate/details?teamId=2334642