Spencer Benjamin really put his soul into the Sydney Marathon on Sunday, racing the course in high-heeled stilettos to give back to the women in his life who have supported him through his own mental struggles and kept him “alive”, he says.
“Four hours worth of suffering for decades worth of pain that people in domestic violence go through, for a couple of blisters – that was the main driver,” Benjamin says after completing the iconic Sydney Marathon in high-heeled stilettos.
A Sydney local and an active participant of the Black Dog Institute, Spencer was offered a last-minute ticket to represent the mental health charity at the 42.2km marathon course.
But just three days before race day, he found himself compelled to visit Newtown’s high heels shop, buying a pair of stilettos for another purpose.
“Almost 50 women this year alone have died (because) of domestic violence and that’s something that really hits home,” he told news.com.au.
“It’s something I want to advocate against and to support better education for men, and to highlight the suffering of these women”.
The 23-year-old from Sydney’s east has since been praised by over a hundred and fifty thousand people on TikTok after a video of him blitzing through the Sydney marathon course went viral, amassing almost one and a half million views.
Wearing a Black Dog Institute shirt and a pair of clear stiletto high heels, Benjamin decided to kill “two birds with one stone”, spreading awareness about mental health struggles and domestic violence against women.
He paid homage to the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes charity, which highlights ending domestic and gender-based violence by challenging men to wear high heels and actively confront gender stereotypes and expectations.
“I was inspired by the women around me and I just felt compelled to do it. It was an amazing day; it was bloody hard, but that’s alright”.
The marathoner has endured the loss of his father and a school friend due to mental health struggles, and said it was being in the “circle of such strong femininity” by his mother, aunties and sister his whole life, which has “kept him alive” and supported him in his own mental health battles.
“Being in this circle of such strong femininity, their strength really is something that’s kept me going, kept me alive and pushing and motivated. If I could give back to that in any way, I would absolutely do that”.
While he called himself “crazy” for wearing high heels for 42.2km, he felt people connected with the cause after seeing his race in the shoes, something he calls “special”.
“In Australia, we’ve been affected so much by domestic violence and I think any effort that I can make to raise awareness against that and to try and reduce those statistics in any way.”
“I could have never have done it without the women around me, my mum is an absolute saint, my sister, my aunties, my friends. I have gone through some really bad mental health and they’ve literally kept me alive. I’m so grateful for them”.
“The support from the crowd was unreal and I’m glad that it’s been able to connect with other people and to those people who are suffering, I feel for them. That’s the main message: I’m doing it for them and I just want to raise awareness”.
Benjamin crossed the finish line at 4 hours and 19 minutes, and has broken the Guinness World Record for fastest male running a marathon and wearing high heels.
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