AN EX-MILITARY gunner has dedicated a portion of his life to gruelling endurance events to fundraise for people with conditions that affect their whole lives.
Ed Brennan, 48, of Wivenhoe, enlisted in the army in 1989 at the age of 16 as a junior leader and joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery.
He later moved to the Royal Horse Artillery’s Seventh Parachute regiment and became a paratrooper at 17, serving 22 years in total before leaving as a sergeant major in 2013 at age 40 when his service was complete.
Ed said: “I really enjoyed the army and the tours I completed in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Cyprus.
“However, when I left a number of factors meant my mental health began to worsen and thankfully I’m beginning to recover and get back on track.”
When Ed left the military he became the assistant manager at Aldi in Cowdray Avenue, Colchester.
During work he had a back injury resulting in a prolapsed disc that needed surgery to fix, Ed couldn’t exercise because of this which impacted his mental health.
He added: “I was very fit and physical at the time but the injury stopped all of that, I began drinking more because I couldn’t go on long runs and cycles that let you think and process things to help your mental health.”
Ed has loved running since he was a child and it was a way to escape because he had low concentration in the classroom.
His earliest memory of competing was winning a four mile race at 11-years-old in Silver End and often when other children were out playing, he was running.
Whilst the pandemic brought a downturn in fortune for a lot of people, Ed used it as an opportunity start his recovery.
He said: “At the start of the pandemic I didn’t know how long it would go on for but I was lucky as my life didn’t change as a key worker.
“However, I knew I couldn’t bring the stresses of work back to my family because the pandemic made things hard enough.
“I decided I would turn the pandemic into a positive and stop drinking and I haven’t had alcohol since.”
Ed also sought out the help of a counsellor and was complimentary of the help he received.
He added: “Counselling helps you talk about things you wouldn’t talk to your friends or family about.
“My counsellor became a close friend that I could tell anything from my darkest secrets at the military to how I’m feeling right now.
“At the start I saw them as a professional then they became such a big part of my life that I could divulge all these secrets.
“With the help of the counsellor and support of my loving family and friends so much pressure was eased off my mental health it was unbelievable.”
To fully get back into the thrust of fitness, Ed has completed a gruelling 90 kilometre run to fundraise for charity and is set to complete two more.
The 90 kilometre run took place on May 30 across every Aldi store in Colchester, Clacton and Walton.
He is set to compete in the Ironman UK marathon in Bolton on July 3 which will be his third competition, previously competing in Roth, Germany.
In August, Ed will complete three ironman triathlons in three consecutive days, split into a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile cycle and 13.1 mile run totalling 73 miles.
He said: “The 90 kilometre run was an amazing experience, the idea was to do something that was bordering on unachievable but also raise mental awareness.
“I had the luxury of having a support runner, Ross McCallion who ran 73 kilometres with me, he’s from my old regiment and his father James served with me.
Ed will fundraise for three different charities he has personal connections to.
His regimental charity, the Airborne Gunners Trust is relatively new and supports ex-gunners who have fallen on hard times.
Edward’s wife Marisa works for Autism Anglia and during his 90 kilometre run he made a stop at the Jigsaw Centre in Colchester that helps autistic adults.
The Teenage Cancer Trust aids young people up to the age of 24 and their families with a wealth of support.
Ed added: “It’s the perfect match with these charities and the events I’m doing. The preparation has taken up a large chunk of my life but these charities help people who have conditions that will affect their whole lives.”
For more information and to donate to the charities visit https://bit.ly/3zfc2xJ, autism-anglia.org.uk/ and teenagecancertrust.org/.
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