Let's meet Courtney

Meet the R4R Runners #90

Welcome to the 90th edition of the Meet the R4R Runners. This week, we get to meet Courtney who’s an R4R regular and one of the Writers for Resilience with her blog, Run for the Forests.

Apart from being an integral part of our community, Courtney is organising something exciting that we’ll learn more about below. So, without further ado, let’s meet Courtney!

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What is your name?

Courtney Bright

Where are you from?

I grew up in the Dandenong Ranges on the outskirts of Melbourne and moved to Canberra for postgrad study in 2014. I didn’t intend to stay here long term but now it’s home. Next month is my 10 year Canberra anniversary!

What's your favourite thing about Canberra?

The lifestyle and community. Short commutes, lots of running groups to choose from, and easy access to nature.

How did you hear about R4R and when did you first attend?

I first heard about it from my friend Murray sometime in 2020. I came along occasionally but found it intimidating and skipped the coffee/drinks afterward. It was only about a year ago that I started showing up regularly and talking to people. Turns out you aren’t so scary :)

Making people feel welcome at R4R from the get go is something we’re trying to do. If you have any ideas, let us know in the comments!

What's your favourite thing about R4R?

I love that R4R is normalising conversations about mental health and promoting strategies for managing it. It’s a safe space for people to talk about their struggles while still being fun. I also enjoy the fixed distance and route—the predictability removes friction when I’m not feeling motivated.

What would you like to see R4R do?

I like Daniel's suggestion from The Rag a couple of weeks ago for an epic picnic by the lake.

What's the longest you've ever run? 

My longest run so far was 51 km back in March 2020. I was registered for the 50 km “Ring of Fire” around Mt Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park, but it was cancelled when the first Covid case hit New Zealand a week before race day. I was lamenting this over lunch when my friend Charlotte suggested “Why don’t you just run it in Canberra? We’ll be your support crew!”, or something to that effect. At first I laughed it off—I had the perfect excuse to get out of a 50 km run!—but I quickly came around to the idea and got busy mapping out a route. I ran from Hall to Lake Burley Griffin, including the peaks along the way, with friends joining me for sections and setting up aid stations. We called it the CCU (Courtney’s Canberra Ultra). The Ring of Fire would have been fun, but I think the last-minute Plan B was far more memorable and meaningful.

Are you planning on taking part in any races or events soon or are there any just gone?

Yes! On June 1st I’ll be running 30 km through Tallaganda forest to advocate for its protection. Tallaganda is a one-hour drive from Canberra and provides vital habitat for Greater Gliders, which were added to Australia’s endangered species list in 2022. One-third of Tallaganda is protected but the remainder has been heavily logged, with most of the harvest turned into low-quality products like pulp and firewood. I want to see these parts of the forest protected as part of Australia’s contribution to 30x30—a global target to protect 30% of Earth’s land and water by 2030.

I’m looking for nature-loving runners to join me for this run, as well as a support crew to help out on the day. If you’d like to get involved, please let me know here and I’ll be in touch with more information soon. You can also read more of the story behind this project on the Run for the Forests blog/newsletter, where I’ll continue to share updates over the coming months. If you’re curious to visit Tallaganda in the meantime, we’ll be heading out there for Ben Alexander’s Camping 4 Resilience trip on March 15th to 17th—Ben’s family farm is conveniently located right next to the course I’ve mapped out for this run!

What does resilience mean to you?

During the worst times—whether from a loss, life event, or mental illness—we can be so consumed by it that it’s difficult to imagine feeling “normal” again. But occasionally there might be a little window of happiness or purpose—it’s fleeting but it’s there—and we realise that it’s still available to us. I think resilience is trusting that these moments will come again, and that gradually they’ll get longer and more frequent. In the meantime, we need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and lean into our routines, communities, and the people who care about us. 

When you look back on the hardest moment/s in your life, is there anything you wish you could have told yourself? 

You don’t need to do this on your own.

Hoo roo, Courtney!