Meet the R4R Runners #31

Connor

Last week we summarised what Resilience meant to our group and I thought one of the comments on our social media posts was particularly profound. Tony (a former ragger himself) said “The community definition should resonate with many in our group. Importantly, we own it.”

By defining what is important to us and continuing to live by those definitions, it creates confidence to be resilient, it strengthens our collective resilience, and ultimately, it brings us all a bit closer.

Community is key, and by different people offering to answer the quiz each week, we’re building our community bigger and stronger. A community that will no doubt help someone when they need it, whether we know about it or not.

We continue our march towards 100 raggers with the 31st edition of the ‘Meet the R4R’ Runners. This week, we get to meet a fella called Connor who’s been an R4R Runner for about 5 months.

It’s a downside of being such a large group that I only got to meet Connor a couple of weeks ago, but it's all the more reason that the Rag continues, because after making the call for more raggers, Connor introduced himself to me and put his hand up.

I’m stoked he did because his responses made for a good read and it’s clear to me that he’s a good bloke. As with many of the R4R runners, I’m glad to have someone else I can say hello to if I see them out and about.

So without further ado, let’s meet Connor!

What is your name? 

Connor Butlion 

Where are you from?

Born in South-Africa, West-oz raised, yes I’m an eagles supporter, no I don’t want to talk about it

What's your favourite thing about Canberra? (apart from R4R obviously)

I like how its close to both the snowfields & decent surf breaks. The people are super awesome here too

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

I was catching up with some friends at The Dock on a random Wednesday sometime in February and noticed the group gathering for a photo. The very next week I completed my first 6km 

What's your favourite thing about R4R?

For me R4R started as a ‘runners club’ however I quickly realised it was so much more than that. Its a safe, comfortable space where we all get together to exchange stories, meet new people and most of all its a way for us to help each other without even realising. The running part is just a bonus  

Is there anything you'd like to see R4R do? 

An undie run (would be wild but not sure on the logistics) with a small entry fee that we could donate to Life Line or something similar followed by a pub crawl or pub golf (team event) would be pretty entertaining

An undie run is pretty bold! We’ve had some calls for Budgie Smuggler branded swimmers, but if you can’t wait, there’s a run coming up called the Santa Shuffle (A fundraiser for cystic fibrosis). Have you ever run a marathon before? If so, how'd you go? 

I haven’t. Not looking at doing one in the near future either 

Are you planning on taking part in any races or events soon?

City to surf (if my body allows)

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

This is a hard one but Robin Williams & my parents (border closures has made seeing them challenge)

What does resilience mean to you?

By definition resilience is the capacity to quickly recover from difficulties. Whilst true I believe resilience is found rather than something we are born with. We only know the true resilience of ourselves after/during extremely trying situations and as a result we better prepare ourselves for future problems which in tail also allows us to help others through their struggles. Resilience to me is the art of being knocked down and getting back up just that little bit taller and stronger every time.

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

(suicide warning)

A few years ago I lost a friend to mental health. This sent me on a bit of a dark spiral. Ultimately it was being active with running, gym and surfing that got me back on track which made me realise how important our physical health is. Its through these activities I’ve met some amazing people who also have their share of difficult moments and being able to talk to someone really helped me. If I could look back I would and tell myself something i’d say ‘This too shall pass’ and I may even adopt the R4R quote of ‘Just.Keep.Moving’

We've stopped the count on Benny A vs. Jonesy... So, who do you think takes out the R4R gift this year (both male and female)?

Male- Will ‘sugar’ Cain 

Female- EJ 

Thanks, Connor!