Two men flipping a 93kg tractor tyre non-stop for 24 hours. What could be Moore masculine than that?

Renown throughout Macleans for his big smiles, positive energy and an excellent beard — PE teacher and Rutherford Deputy House Leader, Mr Moore wants to set a new Guinness World Record; flipping tractor tyres.

Along with his “brother in iron” Gareth, Mr Moore hopes to use it to create a platform to discuss and spread a message about men’s mental health and depression in New Zealand. In an interview with The Collegian, Mr Moore said he wanted to convey “what it means to be strong not just physically but mentally too.” 

In doing so, both are raising funds for the Sir John Kirwan Foundation — a nonprofit which helps provide mental health education to young people in New Zealand. They aim for a total of $10,000 to be raised, and they hope that by setting a new world record, it would bring more recognition to what people perceived as masculinity and how it related to mental health. 

The hopefully record-setting event will be held at the AUT Millennium Institute in the last weekend of the school holidays.

Since February, Mr Moore and his “brother in iron” have been training every day in preparation for the big day. Apart from tyre flipping training, which can last from 1.5 to 5 hours every day, they have also worked on resistance training as well as jiu-jitsu training to work on increasing their tolerance to fatigue. Working with a strict diet and a carb deficit, Mr Moore has lost approximately 20kg over the last 18 weeks. Pleased with his physical change, Mr Moore is especially happy about how he can now do seven ‘muscle ups’, as well as having become much leaner than before.

Weight training for the last 11 years, Mr Moore says that this was one of the methods in which he dealt with depression. Diagnosed at 22 with this mental illness, Moore has seen many of his close friends affected by depression, losing a best friend who took his own life. 

“I want to use this to do something significant for people like myself who need to see that it isn’t weak to seek help – especially teenage boys so that they are able to talk to someone and work through it.  It’s exceptionally brave to talk to someone about mental health, and that’s why I’m doing this”, said Mr Moore

Mr Moore said that men have always been expected to be strong and unmoving, and that these societal norms have inforced rigid ideas of masculinity into the minds of the growing generation of young men; especially in New Zealand. 

It has become a duty for men and boys to be silent about their emotions, to be able to swallow their feelings and “tough it out”. Many people don’t tend to think about the seriousness of mental health in boys, but this has resulted in much higher rates of suicide among Kiwi men than women. 

This idea of what “real men” should be starts with childhood, accompanying men throughout their entire life, dictating what they should and shouldn’t do, what they should and shouldn’t feel. 

“Males can be exceptionally masculine to the point of stupidity, thinking that it’s a sign of weakness to ask for help and I want to break down this stereotype.” He said that he hoped that by doing something that is very masculine at its core, he will be able to break these unhealthy archetypes set up by society. 

Mr Moore wants more people to realise the gravity of the issue and how depression and mental illnesses can affect anyone at any age, any gender. Through his actions, he wants to spread the message of how important it is to communicate emotions and that reaching out is not a sign of weakness.

Mr Moore: “you’re not weak, you’re exceptionally brave and courageous if you ask for help.”

Watch Mr Moore and Gareth’s attempt on the 20-21 July in the last weekend of the school holidays, at the AUT Millennium Institute in Albany, starting midday.

Donate here: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/24-hour-tyre-flipping-for-mental-health

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Written by Nancy Qiang. Contributing edits by Justin Hu. Published on 03/07/2019. Header image: Supplied.

Editor’s note: Edited after publication.