CLEVELAND — Tuesday is World Mental Health Day and one Ohio man is marking the occasion in a big way. Raymond Braun spoke with News 5 anchor Rob Powers about an incredible accomplishment. Seven triathlons in seven days on seven continents. It was a journey that started with an understanding; that feeling your emotions and talking about your mental health struggles is not a sign of weakness.
Rather, “Investing in your mental health makes you strong,” Braun said. He’d know. He’s in Cleveland for World Mental Health Day to help destigmatize some of the conversations around mental health and achievement, at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit downtown.
Braun told Rob he was always looked at as "different" when he was a kid. He wasn’t especially athletic and started suffering from depression. As he grew older severe OCD kept him locked away in his apartment for weeks at a time. However, an intense recovery program helped Braun understand the connection between mental health and physical health. He built up some confidence and settled on a goal, a triathlon.
“Because it represented so many of my fears in one event,” he told Rob. Braun worked hard on himself and wasn’t going to let anything hold him back. It turned out he was pretty good at his newfound interest in triathlons.
“And then I wanted to do something really extreme that no one had done before, a world record attempt to really drive home this point of destigmatizing mental health conversations,” he said. So, he set out to complete seven triathlons, on seven continents, in seven consecutive days. He ran biked and swam across the globe, finishing triathlons in Antarctica, Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, South America, and finally, he set his world record in Miami.
“So, it was essentially, do the triathlon, go right back to the airport, maybe do a little shower in the sink at the airport, change in some random bathroom somewhere, get on the plane, sleep two to three hours, eat as much airport fast food and energy bars as I could, then land and do it all over again,” he said. Braun did what people said he couldn’t. It was an undeniably physical feat, but he said the most valuable training he did was on his mind. It’s the point he makes to everyone now because he never had the chance to make it to himself when he needed it. If he could go back?
“I would tell myself that there is a strength inside you that you don’t realize that you have and through kind of connecting with people and being more open about your own journey and struggle you’re going to tap into this power that is going to blow your mind!”
