why I'm running this Movember

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospo and Tāmaki Makaurau, by Reilly Hodson. This week: I’m getting real about attempting to run 60km for men’s health this month. If you enjoy clipboard, please share it with your friends, and you can chip in financially by clicking the button below.

(move)mber

This year has been different in heaps of ways, but for me one of the big ones has been that I work in a real office (usually), in a corporate-type job. That means lots of things: consistent income, everyone dressing terribly, a big holiday break over Christmas. It also means that the last working day of October, I got told I had to join the office Movember team.

Funnily enough, many of my colleagues didn’t read the statement that “joining is not optional” in quite as serious a tone as I did, being but a junior member of the staff I saw it as an twofold opportunity.

The first is clear - the goals of the Movember charity are ones that resonate heavily with me. As with many people, my family and families of my friends have been affected by prostate and testicular cancer, and my controversial opinion is that no one should ever have to hear that a family member or friend has cancer, whatever the risk level is. I’m a big fan of modern medicine, in that way.

I’m also a fan of bringing attention to mental health issues of men, as well as every person, of course. I don’t have diagnosed mental health issues, but I’ve certainly experienced period of mental distress, and bouts of feeling depressed, anxious or burnt out that I haven’t been able to rationalise away. I’m lucky enough to have a great support system around me, but if I didn’t, my ability to function as a member of society would probably be drastically different.

What better time than 12-odd weeks into a citywide lockdown to acknowledge that many of us are struggling, encourage people to reach out for help, and let them know that they aren’t alone in feeling anywhere from a bit shit to much more serious negative feelings?

All in all, I think that Movember is a very worthy cause - you can donate to me here (or just look if you want to find out where I work, I guess).

I do not look good with a moustache, and I don’t have the constitution to pull it off ironically, so my choice of pledge to the cause was to run (well, a bit walk) 60 kilometres this month, which is why I’ve become an annoying Nike Run Club poster on Instagram (see above).

I first gave running a go at the start of this year, and kept it up almost daily for about a month until I hurt myself due to using the wrong shoes. Now, I have new shoes, a worthy cause, FOMO from social media, and I’m giving it another try.

I have never been a particularly sporty person. I wasn’t great at sports at schools where you only did sports if you were pretty serious, and I threw them out the window for musical theatre as soon as I possibly could. I’m not very interested in joining a gym, but I do get a bit of a rush from getting my heart rate up.

So, armed with my Couch to 5K app and just an astonishing amount of free time, I’m going to aim to go for a run at least every two days, and hopefully I’ll stick to it. I’m nearly 12k in at this point, with another run booked in today.

Otherwise, may have to get into tennis. If you have any good running tips (stretches, good routes, playlists, hats to wear so your head doesn’t overheat, etc.), get in touch!

clips

• Retail opens this week! My first stop will be Unity Books, and trying on this cardi and the other new heat at Checks Downtown (RIP my bank account) - support local, be patient with the staff, and wear a mask!

• A great starter sweater vest, exclusively at Area 51 by Commoners.

• I doubt that there is any crossover audience between the Sunday Star Times and clipboard readers, but if you’re an old school print newspaper reader, you might find a familiar name in Sunday magazine next week…

• This singlet from Olivia Cashmore is perfect for all your sexy big shirt looks this summer (or wear it on its own, if you’re more confident than me).

• The new Charli XCX tune should be enough encouragement for anyone to get the vax so we can all party this summer (I do not go out often but I’m feeling very keen for a boogie at the moment).

• If you weren’t watching Celebrity Treasure Island this lockdown, you missed out - truly excellent entertainment.

• My dad sent me this article in the New York Times about fashion as part of political image-making, and now I’m sharing it with you! Fascinating stuff.

• We binged over half of Only Murders In The Building (Disney+) in one night this week, also great stuff.

• Lamplight Books on Parnell Road has Jacob Gallagher’s The Men’s Fashion Book, which is the one book I would like to receive if I only got one book this Christmas.

• Next week, I’m going to advocating for Getting Dressed this spring/summer, and I’d love to see your fits! Send me a DM with a recent look you loved, and I’ll throw it in the moodboard.

That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! I want to hear from you if you’re a reader: get in touch via email or on Instagram, I always love a good chat with a reader. Clipboard will be back this time next week, see you then!