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Charity Fun Run · 2026

Running for the ones who
won't ask for help.

Ben is running the Brisbane Marathon to raise money for MensLine Australia — the people who answer when men pick up the phone at 2am. Every dollar funds real conversations.

Donate now → About the run
42.2km
Full marathon distance
$5,000
Fundraising goal
3×
Men die by suicide at 3× the rate of women in Australia
1 in 8
Men experience depression — most never seek help
Runner on a trail in early morning light
Event Brisbane Marathon
Date Sunday 2 August 2026
Beneficiary MensLine Australia
Goal $5,000

Why I'm running

I spend my working life with men who've finally decided to reach out. MensLine is there for the ones who aren't ready to sit in a room yet — who just need to hear a voice.

I'm a psychologist, not a runner. My training programme is ambitious, my knees are uncertain, and my Sunday mornings now smell like deep heat. But 42.2 kilometres feels like a reasonable thing to do for an organisation that answers the phone when someone's running out of road.

MensLine Australia provides free, 24/7 telephone and online counselling for men experiencing relationship or family problems. Last year they answered over 100,000 contacts. The men on the other end of those calls are the same men I see in my practice — and a lot who would never come to a practice at all.

Every dollar raised goes directly to funding those conversations.

$1,840 raised of $5,000 goal

37% of the way there · 41 donors so far · 89 days to go

Where the money goes

MensLine Australia.

A national telephone and online counselling service for men — free, confidential, and available any hour of the day or night. No GP referral. No waiting room. Just someone who knows how to talk to blokes.

100,000+
contacts answered last year — calls, chats, and online sessions
24/7
available every hour of every day — because hard nights don't wait for business hours
Free
no cost to the caller — your donation helps keep it that way for every man who calls
$48
funds one full counselling session for a man who needs it — the cost of a dinner out
Calling MensLine was the first time in twelve years I'd told anyone how bad it had actually got. That call was the reason I called a psychologist the next day.

— MensLine caller · 2024

The road to August

Training updates.

Honest dispatches from a psychologist who probably should have started a bit earlier.

Week 1 · April 18 km

First long run of the block. Managed 14km on Sunday morning before the hip flexors started a formal complaint. The dog, for what it's worth, was absolutely fine.

Week 3 · April 34 km

Cumulative mileage ticking up. Discovered that podcasts about psychology are, surprisingly, not restful when you're trying to run. Switched to 90s hip hop. Significant improvement.

Week 6 · May Half marathon ✓

Ran 21.1km in practice. Slower than I'd like. Faster than I expected. Knees held. This is actually going to happen.

Week 8 · May 56 km

Taper week next week. Legs are tired. Brain is loud. The irony of a psychologist needing to apply his own tools to get through a long run is not lost on me.

Help a man make that call.

Donate what you can, or share this page with someone who might. It all adds up — and it all matters.

Donate now → MensLine Australia ↗

Brisbane Marathon · Sunday 2 August 2026 · Ben Stevens running for MensLine Australia