Exercise benefits mental and physical health, says athletics star

A former international gold medal-winning athlete is a passionate advocate for the positive physical and mental health benefits that regular exercise provides.

David Gillick, who struck gold at 400 metres at the European Athletics Championships in 2005 and 2009, is well qualified to speak on the subject.

The 43-year-old Dubliner, who also competed for Ireland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has spoken openly about his mental health struggles that followed his retirement from competitive athletics at the age of 30.

“When you deal with change in any walk of life it can have an impact,” he says.

“My self-worth and confidence came from one area, and when that wasn’t there I struggled. Being male, I didn’t talk about it. I kept it ‘in-house’, which is not the way to deal with it. In time I recognised that I needed support”.

His recovery included a return to exercise, and getting out and running again.

“I always encourage people that if you’re feeling a certain way, talk to someone”.

He says that exercise is part of the tools that people need to build to improve their mental health.

A familiar figure on RTÉ television as a sports broadcaster who interviews athletes at major athletics events, David Gillick is also an ambassador for the Vhi Couch to Parkrun campaign, a free six-week programme to help parkrun newcomers gain confidence and fitness. As part of that role he attended a Clonmel parkrun recently.

“No matter whether you walk, jog, run or volunteer, parkrun is the perfect combination of physical exercise and social connection to kick off your weekend,” he says.

“There’s a great buzz from exercising and parkrun also has mental health and social benefits, as it brings people together.

“Whether people take part either as a participant or volunteer, there’s a sense of belonging when you are involved in something in the community”.

Further information is available from couchtoparkrun.ie

On his role as a broadcaster with RTÉ, David Gillick says “how lucky am I? To be part of athletics at that level is brilliant and it’s very special to be engaging with people. There’s massive credit due to the athletes who are willing to share their emotion when they come off the track at the end of an event”.

He’s also delighted that Ireland has enjoyed a fantastic couple of years at major championships.

He pointed out that there were 15 top ten performances at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham in August, when Mark English and Kate O’Connor won gold medals, while Rhasidat Adeleke and Andrew Coscoran won bronze.

“Across the board we’re beginning to challenge at a multitude of events”.

Injury ruled Tipperary’s Sharlene Mawdsley out of those championships, which David Gillick said was particularly unfortunate as she had been running really fast times.

However, her participation on Irish relay teams had given her great confidence to take her performances onto another level, and she had made a strong return from injury towards the end of the season, he added.

The Clonmel parkrun starts from the Gas House Bridge at 9.30 every Saturday morning.

People taking part for the first time need to register at https://www.parkrun.ie/register/?eventName=clonmel