Let's meet Jess... again!

Re-meet the R4R Runners #11

Welcome to the 11th edition of the Re-meet the R4R Runners. It’s no secret that we admire people who put effort into helping those around them, and like so many in our community, Jess is one of those people.

With Jess’s contribution to the Bravehearts community (that you’ll read about below) and her effort into the R4R community, it’s no wonder that she was a finalist for the 2021 ACT Local Hero award.

So, without further ado… Let’s meet Jess… again!

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How have you been? 

I’ve been great thanks. Getting back into more running after a 10-month-long injury, so I’m a happy girl. 

Knocked off any running events recently?

No running events done since the Bravehearts 777 marathon in July. Really looking forward to getting a few under the belt this year starting with the Kowen half on Sunday and Tarawera 100 miler in 5 weeks. There’s the Bravehearts 777 marathon again in July as well as a track event, that will really test the mental strength. 

What's been your highlight in the past year?

My highlight in the last year has been non-run related. Seeing both of my boys thriving in their new lives. My 20-year-old recently moved to Hawaii to go to college and my 18-year-old got his first professional football (soccer) contract in Portugal. (Estrella Amadora). But having the family together in Portugal over Christmas was the best. 

What's been your favourite thing about R4R since we met you the first time?

I have loved watching the growth of R4R. Last Wednesday was insane! Almost felt like the start line of the Gold Coast Marathon! Seeing the different people coming along and hearing their stories is awesome. 

Your original answer to "What does resilience mean to you?" was "seeing something hard to get through and doing it anyway, with a smile on your face. Knowing that there’s growth from doing hard things." 

Do you still think it is? Would you change it at all?

I wouldn’t change my original thought on what resilience means to me. Although I had an epic thought during the week and forgot what it was. But it was amazing! 

When we met you last time, we heard a little bit about your work with Running for Bravehearts. How were the 7 marathons last year, and are there any big plans for this year?

777 last year was as always fabulous. It’s a really hard week on the body and mind, but we are driven by our purpose of keeping kids safe from sexual abuse. 1 in 5 kids will be affected by sexual abuse by the time they are 18, we can make a difference through running this event. This year we are hoping to make Canberra massive, the pinnacle event of the week (apart from the Gold Coast marathon). So please come and join us. It’s on  Saturday 6th July so there are no excuses. I’ve been working on a new course with the team at Aurora and it will bring our start/finish point closer to The Dock. You don’t have to run 42.2km, you can run 7, 14, 21 whatever you feel you’d like to do on the day. 

And you're doing a women's clothing sale?

I host a donated women’s clothing sale to raise the funds needed to keep kids safe. It will be held on Jan 20 from 10 am-3 pm at 21 Scarborough St, Red Hill. All sizes and styles are available as well as a guess how many lollies are in the jar for a gold coin donation.  It’s a fun day and let’s face it, shopping with purpose feels so much better.

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You've been a massive part of the R4R community so far. How do you think we can achieve our goal of making Canberra suicide-free?

I think sending out messages to people to let them know that are not alone,  by potentially adding in more R4R locations so we can attract people who may not travel to Kingston. As we all know, movement is medicine, but not everyone runs, so subgroups such as bike groups, walking specific groups, have guest talkers like Matt from the Fly Project come and discuss his work with mental health. The list is endless. 

Thanks, Jess!