‘Mental toughness’ campaign is just ‘toxic masculinity rebranded,’ journalist says

Cult hero Nedd Brockmann’s gruelling 1600-kilometer charity run is part of a broader trend of men “repackaging mental health as mental toughness”, according to a writer who suggests the “blokeification of mental fitness” is “just toxic masculinity rebranded”.

Conceding her “unpopular opinion” was “going to upset some people”, author and journalist Jill Stark stressed that Brockmann had done an “admirable job” raising money to combat homelessness and “should be applauded”.

But she explained there had “always been something that troubles me about the philosophy he espouses and the message he’s sending about what it means to be ‘mentally strong’”.

“It’s a uniquely masculine approach to wellbeing that is less self-care and more self-flagellation,” she wrote on Instagram.

“In this world view, the more gruelling the challenge, and the more performative the suffering, the more psychologically robust you are. It’s part of a growing trend in recent years of men repackaging mental health as mental toughness.”

Stark said extreme endurance runs, ice baths, paleo diets, biohacking and “raw-dogging” long-haul flights were “just some of the things men are doing in the name of self-improvement”.

“Is this really an example of ‘mind over matter’? Or is the blokeification of mental fitness just toxic masculinity rebranded?” she asked.

Stark, author of High Sobriety and When You’re Not OK, laid out her thoughts about why she was “disturbed by this modern brand of male wellness” in her Patreon subscriber newsletter.

Brockmann, 25, kicked off his “Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge” at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre on October 3 with the goal of running 1000 miles (1610 kilometres) to raise money for homelessness charity We Are Mobilise.

The electrician and ultra-marathon runner from Forbes in NSW captured the hearts of the nation two years ago by running nearly 4000 kilometres from Perth to Sydney in 46 days, raising $1.4 million in the process.

In his latest effort, Brockmann was seeking to break the 1000-mile world record of 10 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes and 36 seconds, set by Greek ultra-marathon runner Yiannis Kouros in 1988.

It would have required him to run 403 laps of the 400-metre track per day for 10 days, finishing by 3am on Monday.

While he fell short of the ambitious goal — Brockmann had reached 1500 kilometres by midday on Tuesday and was expected to hit the finish line some time overnight — he has already raised more than $1.8 million.