Breaking the cycle with a ski, row, cycle and run

Scott Casey-Wooldridge is doing his bit to break a cycle of intergenerational trauma, and hopes he can help others do the same.

Scott, who is just one paper shy of completing his Bachelor of Science majoring in Geography with a minor in Economics, is about to take on his very own ‘misogi’ while fundraising for Aotearoa mental health charity, I Am Hope.

“Misogi is a Japanese term, it’s like a nourishment term for the culture, but in modern days it’s come to mean one hard challenge or one thing that you do that shapes your other 364 days of the year,” Scott says.

On June 20, Scott’s misogi will see him complete a marathon-length ski, a marathon-length row and a marathon-length cycle, rounded out with a marathon run – so that’s 42km for each phase, a total of 168km of exercise.

With the exception of a 127km-long ski on a stationary fitness machine earlier this year, Scott has never taken on a marathon before.

He hopes his efforts will raise $51,100, which he admits is “quite a unique” amount.

“The reason behind that is the average counselling session costs $140, and that times 365 days a year, you get $51,100.”

Scott says over the past year he’s started therapy to unpack “quite a few things” surrounding his childhood which have shaped him as a person.

“I think generational trauma does exist, which has affected me … I think there's a lot of people in the same boat. And it's about just giving the resources to the younger generation who are coming through so that we can kind of break that stigma.”

Scott is grateful for the help he has received to work through his trauma, and is happy he is able to use his physical abilities to fundraise to enable others to get help.

As for the physical challenge, Scott says he wants to test himself.

“I want to do hard things, I want to see what I’m made of … I really want to push myself and see what I’m capable off, especially upstairs, in my top three inches.”

While the ski, row and cycle marathons will be completed on stationary fitness machines,  he will run the marathon on a circuit within Ōtepoti.

He estimates the ski and row will take about three hours each to complete, and the cycle about an hour and a half. While he will take short breaks in between each phase, he thinks the cycle will provide him with a good opportunity to fuel up ahead of the run.

“The run could be anywhere between four or five hours, I don’t know what to expect, I’ll be pretty shattered by that point I imagine.”

He’s been putting in quite a bit of training in the lead up to his misogi, and has raised $2,000 so far.

It’s not the first time Scott has used his sporting capabilities to fundraise – last year he rowed a kilometre a day during September for Mental Health NZ.

Click here to donate to Scott’s misogi.

-Kōrero by Koren Allpress, Internal Communications Adviser