Four Awesome Years
Happy Birthday to us!
Four years ago, Running for Resilience ran for the first time and since then, we’ve grown into something we’re truly grateful for. Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate all that we’ve done together, and to do that, we thought we’d have an interview with R4R itself!
What is your name?
Running for Resilience
How would you describe Running for Resilience?
We asked that question in a survey to our community… here's their answer…
R4R is a community-based running and walking program aimed at promoting mental health and making Canberra Suicide-Free by 2033. It is a welcoming, inclusive, and friendly space where people of all fitness levels can participate and meet new people.
We know you started four years ago… but what was the first one like?
We started pretty fast. The Dock already had a great community and they provided us with free food… which may or may not have had something to do with it…
And it was all smooth sailing from there?
Not exactly… 3 months into Running for Resilience, COVID-19 happened, and Canberra was plunged into lockdown, which meant we couldn’t get together and run.
What did you do?
We found a way! With a combination of Strava, group chats, social media, and some buy-in from our community, we kicked off the first (and hopefully only) Lockdown Challenge!
And what happened when the lockdowns were lifted?
Funnily enough, people were itching to get back outside and exercising with others. The Wednesday runs started to balloon so much that one of our community members brought a drone in to take the photo!
It would have been hard to keep track of everyone’s names…
Yep, which is what made the Meet the Runners Newsletter even better!
So far we’ve met 85 new people and re-met some others. It’s been a great way to put faces to names, learn a bit more about each other, and realise that we all have something going on in the background.
It also allowed us to champion some of the great people who are doing great work for Running for Resilience and outside Running for Resilience.
It sounds like your community leads itself.
Yep! It certainly does.
Ever since the Monday run was set up by our community wanting more, we’ve seen more and more people take ownership of the R4R Brand. Most recently, we’ve seen Strolling for Resilience launch…
And now Recovery for Resilience!
That’s amazing, it seems like you’ve had fun along the way.
Oh yeah! We’ve had a lot of fun! Every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we’ve had fun. As our community has grown, so has our desire to hang out even more… so we have!
In 2022, Benny A and Shooter took the City 2 Surf by the horns. Booking a bus and herding the cats, the first Road Trip was a hit. There was always going to be a second and with some great additions and alterations, it was even better. Here’s to next year!
Our first Gala Night at the Jetty was so much fun too. Seeing our runners in a different light and having an opportunity to let our hair down a bit was great… as if we needed another reminder of why our community is so special!
And you’ve had some novelties along the way…
We certainly have! Earlier this year we had the real Melbourne Cup awarded to the winners of the R4R Gift and just recently, we had Dylan Alcott get down for a run and Q&A with Benny A.
Maybe the most novel thing we’ve had though is the official renaming of the Arc de Resilience. It started as a bit of tongue and cheek, but now you can catch your Uber to the Arc.
We hope that we’ll be able to claim it even more as our own in the future by engraving names of the people we run for on the Arc or the pavers around it… That would be an even more amazing cultural symbol for what we’re trying to do.
Wow… there’s quite a bit. What’s been the highlight?
By far and away, the most amazing thing that has come from R4R is the one life we’ve saved, each time we’ve done it. It’s a tragedy that people don’t feel that they belong in this world, and we’re so proud that we’ve been able to make people feel welcome and help them out of their despair.
A very close second is all the connections that have come from it. Without all of the efforts from so many, there would be countless friendships that wouldn’t exist, and we’re so grateful they do.
So cheers to us!
Cheers to you!
Did we miss anything?
Hopefully not… but most likely so… One thing we won’t miss is tonight’s celebrations at the Dock from 6 pm. See you there!
Happy Birthday R4R!
Thanks to The Dock for supporting the development of such a great community!
So good! Happy bday R4R!