The ‘Mental Fortitude’ campaign is simply ‘toxic masculinity rebranded’, says journalist

Cult hero Nedd Brockmann’s grueling 1,600km charity run is part of a wider trend of men “repackaging mental health as mental resilience”, according to one writer who suggests “mental block” is “simply rebranded toxic masculinity”.

Acknowledging that her “unpopular opinion” would upset some people, author and journalist Jill Stark noted that Brockmann had done an “admirable job” raising money to fight homelessness and “should be applauded.”

But she explained that there was “always something that bothered 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 wellness that’s less self-care and more self-flagellation,” she wrote on Instagram.

“In this worldview, the more exhausting the challenge and the more performative the suffering, the stronger you are psychologically. 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 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 blocking mental fitness just rebranded as toxic masculinity?” she asked.

Stark, author of High clarity AND When you’re not okayrevealed her thoughts on why she was “disturbed by this modern brand of male wellness” in her Patreon subscriber newsletter.

Brockmann, 25, began his ‘Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge’ at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Center on October 3 with the aim of running 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometres) to raise money for homelessness charity We Are Mobilise.

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

In his latest attempt, Brockmann was looking to break the 1,000-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 require him to run 403 laps of the 400m track a day for 10 days, finishing by 3am on Monday morning.

While he fell short of the ambitious goal — Brockmann had covered 1,500 kilometers by midday Tuesday and was expected to reach the finish line sometime overnight — he has already raised more than $1.8 million.