Meet the communities #2
Walk With Me
Welcome to the second edition of the Meet the other communities. Last edition, we met Running with Mates who are all the way over in Perth. This week, we get to meet a community right here in Canberra, Walk With Me.
Walk With Me is headed by a fella named Zak and similar to what we said in the last edition, it’s great to see other communities looking after each other and… forgive the pun… walking the walk.
The Walk With Me crew are often at Running for Resilience, so please, if you’re looking for another community to get involved with, have a look at these guys. But without further ado, let’s find out a little bit more about Zak and Walk With Me.
What is your name?
My name is Zak
Where are you from?
Born and bred in Canberra
What's your favourite thing about Canberra? (apart from R4R obviously)
Apart from R4R, my favourite thing about Canberra is how easy going it is and the ability to connect with people in Canberra is easy due to its size.
How did you hear about R4R and when did you first attend?
First heard of R4R through Arthur Livanes and first attendance was 3 weeks ago.
What's your favourite thing about R4R?
Favourite thing about R4R is that it makes you commit to something, e.g. the run. To me it's about showing up and making a commitment to yourself and meeting new people. Similar to WALK-W-ME, it's about putting yourself out there to do exercise and also engage with people (can be new people) on a regular basis to develop stronger relationships and good support networks.
What is Walk With Me?
WALK-W-ME is designed for guys to come together to walk and talk (with a Women’s Walk With Me just being launched!).
We have found that walking and talking has become a very authentic way to strike up a conversation without the formalities.
Sometimes these formalities form a structured conversation that makes it difficult to say how we really feel or have felt about certain things in life.
One of the most difficult tasks most people face is the commitment to implement a habit and maintain consistency. Most of us had routines when we were younger, such as playing sport which had required a commitment to ourselves and in some instances a team. WALK-W-ME wants to express that once a habit is started it is just as easy to continue. Showing up once a week for a walk not only has the physical benefits (such as walking for an hour) but also the psychological benefits of being part of a community that are willing to share and listen to each other. Sometimes, you will be there for yourself, but also will be providing support for others.
WALK-W-ME intends to allow people to walk and talk whilst applying certain systems that implement a commitment to each other. On these walks we do not use our phones as it provides more attention to the group and eliminates other distractions to allow us to concentrate on each other and what is currently being talked about.
We aim to centre our model around people rather than issues as we believe that people are more important and the problems we face together can stay on the outer when being discussed.
Which three people (alive or dead) would you like to run (or walk) 6km with?
Roger Federer
Frank Sinatra
Alan Watts
What does resilience mean to you?
Resilience to me means regardless of the circumstance you keep moving as you try to understand your situation and overtime learn to adapt.
When you look back on the hardest moment/s in your life, is there anything you wish you could have told yourself?
That things get better with time.
Why do you think Talking is so important?
Talking is important to let out how you feel, but it can sometimes also help you understand your feelings better when you articulate it. I also believe that when you talk with people there is a chance that it may be beneficial for them too. Can help them understand how they feel, they could find it uplifting.
Zak, it’s great to see more people walking the walk!
If you’d like to know more about Walk With Me, they got a mention in the Riot Act