Let's meet my sister, Shannon!

Meet the R4R Runners #85

Welcome to the 85th edition of the Meet the R4R Runners, where we get to meet my Sister, Shannon. Whilst Running for Resilience has become something that’s community-focused and community-led, its genesis is the death of our parents.

Despite going through the same thing, we’ve experienced the fallout differently and navigated the throes that followed in our own way. I think this concept, that people will deal with things in their own unique way, is important… and the way that Shannon has gone about hers makes me incredibly proud to be her Brother.

Shannon has provided some great answers below and they almost made me cry when reading them at work… thanks for that, Shannon… so, without further ado, let’s meet my Sister, Shannon!

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What is your name? 

Shannon Breen

Where are you from?

Sutton, NSW (just across the ACT boarder so a Canberran really. Born and bred)

What's your favourite thing about Canberra?

I have so many favourite things about Canberra. I love the small town feel of knowing people and getting around easily, the awesome restaurants, the proximity to the coast and the snow and being able to live on land and have horses not far from town and work.

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

I think I went to one of the first runs in the beginning of 2020 if I remember correctly. I heard about it when Matt began sharing the message of his struggle and resilience on social media and the R4R blogs and website. I had no idea it was in the making and I remember coming across it and feeling immense pride and emotion that he was able to share such a painful experience so openly and to help others in the process. I was thrilled to be a part of something so inspiring.

What's your favourite thing about R4R?

My favourite thing is that R4R holds space for the tough conversations and the hard days as well as the easy ones. I feel our culture is trained to keep the tough stuff hidden so we don’t make others uncomfortable with it and I love the way R4R normalises the fact that we have tough times as well and it’s ok to acknowledge that openly. I also love that R4R promotes physical activity, one of the best things you can do for mental health.

What would you like to see R4R do?

Save more lives from suicide and continue to promote a culture where we are resilient enough to hold space for people doing it tough and resilient enough to let people hold space for ourselves when we are the ones doing it tough.

Recovery for Resilience is an initiative that’s been created by our community out of a desire to be mindful of our need to recover, physically and mentally. Recovery for Resilience does this… and conveniently… offers us another opportunity to catch-up during the week.

The first one is at 6:15 am this Thursday at Aequus Movement. To attend, you must register.

What's the longest you've ever run? 

10km

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

I do showjumping competitions if that counts but no race runs are planned for me at this stage.

Which three people (alive or dead) would you like to run or walk 6km with?

I would like to walk with the people who inspired R4R, my Mum and Dad, and the person who brought it to life, my Brother, Matt so we could walk as a family just one more time.

What does resilience mean to you?

I used to think resilience was turning off emotions, not speaking about hard things, and pushing on no matter what, but now I think of resilience as feeling emotions, sharing the experience of hard things, and pushing on in a way that acknowledges what you are dealing with. A great quote is ‘Be still, feel it all, you can do hard things’ Glennon Doyle

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

Absolutely. I would tell myself it’s going to get better. One day you are going to love your life so much that you will look back and think you were crazy for not wanting it. You are going to be so grateful that you Just. Kept. Moving.

Thanks, Shannon!

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