Welsh man’s unusual roundabout challenge brings community together

Nation.Cymru Staff

A Welsh man has set himself the unusual challenge of running 150km around the same roundabout throughout November to raise awareness of men’s health.

Christian Aldridge, from Bridgend, is running 25 laps of Waterton Cross Roundabout every day as part of Movember, highlighting men’s mental health, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

The ‘Road to Nowhere’ challenge in aid of Movember, as Christian has called it, represents for him “how life can sometimes feel. Going around in circles, facing the same worries, struggles and challenges, and not knowing which exit to take.”

Though he usually runs a 5k to support the annual charity event, which aims to raise awareness and funds for critical men’s health issues, this year he shared that he’d wanted to do “something that actually means something”.

“You never really know what someone else might be going through. And sometimes something as simple as showing up, having a conversation or checking in on someone can make a huge difference. That’s what I want this challenge to encourage,” he explained.

“My message throughout the challenge has been: ‘Whether it’s your head, your prostate or your balls… don’t keep going around in circles. Talk about it, get it checked, and TAKE THE RIGHT EXIT!'”

When Christian began the challenge on 1 November, he expected to be running alone. However, he has since only had to run one day by himself, with 42 people turning up to cheer him on one day.

In the first 12 days of the month, 166 people visited the roundabout to run alongside him or show their support, with a local dog even completing laps with him.

“Complete strangers have come along and joined me,” Christian explained. “People have travelled from across south Wales — Merthyr, Aberdare, Port Talbot and even one from Usk — supporters have made banners, and local running clubs, gyms, football teams and community groups are now getting involved.”

“Some people have even gone out and completed the 5km around the roundabout themselves because they couldn’t make my scheduled runs.”

 

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A post shared by Christian | Road To Nowhere 🏃🏻‍♂️ (@christiansroadtonowhere)

The support he’s received since has been “absolutely insane” and has “completely blown me away”, Christian shared as he thanked everyone.

“It’s had such an impact, it’s overachieved anything that I ever expected it to be… Even just the people passing in their cars, giving a little beep, and a shout out the window support, it honestly means so much to me at the moment,” he told Bridge FM host Lee Jukes.

Though he runs often and trains for triathlons, Christian has taken a flexible schedule for his daily roundabout laps to provide as many people as possible with the opportunity to join him.

“It’s open to absolutely anyone,” he said. “Whether you can run, whether you want to walk, whether you just want to come and have a chat…”

“We’re not even halfway through November yet, and with more clubs, community groups and collaborations getting involved, I’m hoping we can keep building on what’s already happened.”

“And if this ridiculous challenge encourages even one person to open up about how they’re feeling, check on a mate or get something concerning checked out, it’ll have been worth every single lap.”

Although his main aim is to raise awareness rather than funds, Christian has encouraged those who want to donate to do so through the Movember site.

Christian will be completing 25 laps every day for the remainder of November, and you can find his running schedule, as well as updates on his progress on his Instagram here.