OnHand employee Jack to be the first to run the length of India: Exclusive interview

On the 1st of September, Jack Faint, a Senior Account Executive on the OnHand Sales team, is aiming to become the first person to run the entire length of India: over 4,000km in 80 days. We sat down with Jack to learn more about ‘The India Run’  and how you can support this hugely ambitious journey. 

Tell us about your journey and why you’re doing ‘The India Run’

Six and a half years ago I was given a terminal  brain tumour diagnosis.

Just before that diagnosis I was living in Melbourne and lived a very intoxicated lifestyle; a lot of drink, drugs, smoked, didn't look after myself, was quite overweight, really unhealthy. The diagnosis was a huge catalyst for change and transformation, and soon afterwards I decided to go backpacking across the world.

I went to South America for six months and then I went to India. It was mainly those four months in India that changed my life and gave me a lot of the tools to help me not thrive in the face of a very serious and difficult diagnosis. It taught me things like meditation and breathwork, which ultimately helped me cultivate a sense of gratitude for all of the things in life. I had the opportunity to turn this diagnosis into something that could be a really positive force for good.

This coincided with starting on a running journey. I did a couple of half marathons and 10Ks whilst I was on my travels. If I was ever in a new city, it'd be the first thing I'd do to go and see a place. It also became quite a meditative practice for me. I started doing ultramarathons around the world, raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity. I started to think about what my body could do and how much impact I could make.

Last year I set myself a test to see if I could do something quite big; that test was to run 650 km in 14 days across the coast of South Africa. That was hard and painful and difficult, but it gave me the knowledge and confidence to be able to do something bigger. 

I always had this thing in mind to go back to the country that helped really transform me and make me the person I am today.

How have you prepared ahead of your race, both physically and mentally?

Physically, I've been working really hard with a running coach. For the past twelve months I really dialled in with one coach with this goal in mind. This has been an accumulation of volume - long distances over a considerable period of time, running up to 150K a week to get the body prepared for running that much. 

I've also been working with a strength and conditioning coach - a biokineticist - who helps to train the muscles around the body to become as strong as possible. Running that much distance has a huge impact on all of your joints and muscles around your knees, ankles, and glutes. I've been working really closely with him three times a week, on top of the running, to get as strong as physically possible.

The amount of logistics and organisation to get something like this together has been very overwhelming. I've got quite a big team coming out -- four to six people that'll be with me at any given time – which is quite a big crew. Mental preparation has predominantly involved trying to set that team up for success as soon as they arrive. Everyone's got their own individual roles to make sure that they can support me as best as possible.

Mental preparation has also been a mix of visualisation, meditation, a general gratitude practice, and trying to stay as present as possible to understand that this is a wonderful opportunity rather than something I have to do. It's something that I get to do, because nobody's ever done it, and how incredible that I can potentially be the first person to do it.

I'm trying to stay in that mental space of feeling like I'm really fortunate that I have the opportunity to take this on with a really great team. 

How do you plan to keep morale up on such a long journey?

I've chosen the team really well. They’re a group of individuals who have a wonderful energy. They don't take life too seriously. A couple of them have been really close friends for many years. I just know that they're the type of people that will crack a joke, that will play music, and will be able to bring us back even when we're in a lot of pain or there's going to be difficult situations.

Those moments are going to be quite overwhelming and quite difficult, but they're going to be running with me a little bit when I need that support to get over the line each day.

Is there a particular location you’re looking forward to?

The sensory overload of running into Delhi and Mumbai will be pretty wild. I'm really excited to understand what that's going to look like. We're going to be engaging with a load of different running communities across India that are going to be joining us for different legs, which is cool. There’s going to be half a dozen different running communities running into Delhi with me.

I'm also really excited for Kerala and Tamil Nadu - the southern states are two of my favourites. Really, really stunning - plus it'll be near the end, so I'll probably be quite excited by that point.

How can people support your journey?

First and foremost, we're raising money for charities. There's two charities we'll be raising for; one in the UK, one in India. Both support people with brain tumours or people with cancer. People can support by donating directly to those.

The project itself is going to cost probably £70,000 in total. I've gained a number of corporate sponsors, but I’m still a little way off that target. If people want to support me, that’s also great.

And then there’s awareness. I've got a content team with me who are going to be sharing through social channels. There'll be a post-run documentary that a couple of crew are going to put together as well.

So there's a few ways that people can get involved, either following through socials or donating.

I'm also going to do a live breathwork session online every Friday morning of the run, which could be a really cool way to build a community around the run. People who haven't tried it before can dial in, and I'll do a guided 15 minute breathwork. It’ll probably be 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning on UK time, so it’ll be a nice way for people to wake up and learn about a practice that can have a really positive impact on our state of being and our happiness. 

If people are interested, I definitely would encourage them to log in and try one of the sessions that we facilitate.

Support Jack’s journey

Donate to The Brains Trust.

Donate to Jack’s GoFundMe to support his journey.

Follow Jack on Instagram.