Radio host Andrew Hayes to run 50km after friend’s tragic suicide

An Adelaide radio host has braved the early morning chill and run through an Adelaide park wearing just a mankini. Watch the hilarious video and find out why.

Adelaide radio host Andrew Hayes has gone for a run wearing nothing but sneakers, a Britney Spears wig and a mankini in his effort to raise money and awareness about men’s mental health.

Hayes, co-host of Nova 919’s breakfast show, braved the chilly weather to run around Hindmarsh Square on Thursday morning as part of his training regime for a 50km charity run he is planning around Brighton and Glenelg on November 28.

Nova 919 radio host Andrew Hayes bares nearly all to raise awareness and money for men's mental health. Picture: @jodieandhayesy/Instagram

Britney Spears wig? Check. Mankini? Check. Time to run Hindmarsh Square. Picture: @jodieandhayesy/Instagram

The nearly-naked morning run was the result of a listener challenge and raised $1300.

Next week’s run has already raised about $10,000 for Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation.

PHONE CALL THAT CHANGED SA RADIO STAR’S LIFE

It was early afternoon and Andrew Hayes was driving past Adelaide Oval when he got the call.

At the other end of the line was a school friend from Sydney who asked him to pull over because he needed to share some news.

One of their best mates from school had taken his own life.

Hayes, a four-time Central District SANFL premiership player, was dumbstruck.

“Nah, who told you that? That can’t be right,” he shot back. But it was.

That phone call was 15 years ago but Hayes, now a morning radio host on Nova 919 and sports reporter for Channel 7, can remember the moment as if it happened only yesterday.

His mate had appeared to have the perfect life. At 25, he was working in his dream job after graduating from university, was married and had just bought a house.

His wife and tight-knit friendship group had no idea of his mental struggles – until they read a note he had left explaining his decision to end his life.

Nova 919 presenter Andrew Hayes is running 50km to raise money and awareness about men's mental health. Picture: Brett Hartwig

“His funeral was like this huge school reunion and it was this weird situation, just this weird and disgusting feeling when part of you goes ‘how good is this, everyone is here’ and then it hits you straight away … ‘this is horrible’,” Hayes said.

“Seeing his parents and all our parents … I’ve ever seen anyone’s parents like that where they were just dead inside.”

Hayes and his mates were all 25 at the time and made an informal pact they would do whatever they could to prevent others suffering a similar fate.

And so the now 40-year-old father of three has jumped at the chance to use his radio profile to raise money and awareness about men’s mental health.

Hayes, who played 134 SANFL games after moving to South Australia as a 21-year-old, will run 50km on November 28 to raise money for Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation.

Nova 919 breakfast presenters Jodie Oddy and Andrew Hayes. Picture: Supplied

The run will come after he and Nova 919 co-host Jodie Oddy broadcast their show from Glenelg that morning, dedicating it to the cause in an effort to help reduce the tragic statistic that nine Australians, seven of them men, lose their lives to suicide every day.

Their goal is to raise as much money as possible while spreading the message for men that it’s important to show their vulnerability, open up and talk about any mental health issues.

“I’m at my best and I’m most open when I go for a run,” Hayes said.

“With blokes, when it’s hard to open up and communicate, mixing it with running is a good platform to say ‘let’s have a chat and let’s talk and talk properly’.

“The big goal now is to shift that from the ‘talking about that sort of stuff is soft’ to ‘no, you need to talk about that sort stuff because it can genuinely save someone’s life’.”

Hayes said he went through his own mental health rough patch when he felt his life was lacking direction in his early 30s and the process of opening up to a therapist left him feeling euphoric.

“It’s the most therapeutic feeling I reckon I’ve ever had and I finally realise what the whole ‘weight off the shoulders thing’ meant,” he said.

“We’re trying to cut through to blokes who are probably carrying stuff (and most blokes are carrying something) the power of what can happen if you talk … and what potentially could be prevented.”

If you or someone you know needs help, support is available through a variety of free and confidential services including Lifeline (13 11 14) and Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636)

Originally published as Radio host Andrew Hayes to run 50km after friend’s tragic suicide