Could Canberra be a suicide-free city by 2033? That is the mission of the group of passionate and community-minded individuals spearheading Running for Resilience (R4R). Launching in 2019, the weekly running initiative has been like a rolling stone, gaining traction and participants, and was recently awarded charity status.

“The goal is to save one life from suicide as many times as possible and we think that as many times as possible is making Canberra suicide-free,” says Matt Breen, co-founder of Running for Resilience.

After Matt’s father took his own life, Matt struggled and often found himself wishing he could have something different for his father. This feeling spread to wanting to help someone like his father, or even himself, using exercise and community to get through those dark times.

Reading a piece written by retired Brumbies player Ben Alexander on how Park Run helped him deal with the grief of losing a grandparent, Matt decided to reach out.

“That just resonated with parts of my story, I said ‘Hey, can we do this?’ and we’ve just taken it from there. It was only a once-off at the start, but like most things R4R, we just kept going,” says Matt.

Co-owner of The Dock Kingston, Ben says that the pub likes to back people who are trying to do good for the community whenever they can. So, saying yes to a run and a beer one Wednesday night was an easy decision to make.

“Then we did the first one and at the end of it Matt and I were chatting and we thought ‘This is awesome, let’s do it again the next week’,” says Ben.

Beginning with around 20 friends heading out each week, the crowd grew to 30 and then 45 before the pandemic hit and saw everything shut down.

“Once the first lockdown lifted, Matt, another friend and I got together and did one run and posted it, saying Running for Resilience will be back next week. 10 people came and it took back off again,” says Ben.

Staying connected through the next lockdown and sharing their runs on Strava, the community bonded and grew stronger. Soon, groups of five were meeting on Monday and Friday mornings to run, a movement which has stuck – R4R now runs four times a week.

Being an open community that encourages communication and discussion, they have received some inspiring feedback from members saying that R4R played a role in saving their lives or helping them through tough times.

“What brought us together is we both believe exercising with friends won’t solve your problems but it will make you feel a bit better, give you a moment of respite from what you’ve got going on,” says Ben. “That’s what we’re trying to create for people, a mid-week break to get outside of their head and forget whatever is happening, do some exercise and have a bit of chinwag with a welcoming community.”

Meeting at the Arc de Resilience, which was renamed in honour of R4R and Matt’s parents on R U OK? Day in 2021, four times a week runners say their hellos and stretch before heading out. Early Monday and Friday mornings, they have also introduced the inclusive Strolling for Resilience on Thursday mornings with a stop along the lake for coffee. However, the Wednesday night run followed by a catch-up (with a free drink) at The Dock remains the event that draws the biggest crowd.

“We’ve cracked 400 a couple of times,” smiles Ben.

“It is not lost on us how much of an activity it is for a lot of people, and it is very symbolic. There are 350-400 people every Wednesday that believe in what our community is trying to do,” says Matt.

Taking each opportunity as it has presented itself, Matt says R4R is a community-led and momentum-driven movement. Even the recent charity status was thanks to a generous donation from Anytime Fitness founders Jess and Richard Peil.

“We’re putting proper processes in place so we can scale what is working here and scale it to more locations. We’ve got a lot of ideas as a community, we want to help people get mental health first aid training,” says Matt.

“It formalises being community-led. Up until now, we have relied on an informal process of listening and talking to people to try and get it up and running but now we have 14 people on a board going through a process to make sure we are making the best decision for a community.”

Along with the positive feedback from participants, R4R has also received suggestions on what they could do to improve, which they have happily taken on board.

“A big group can be quite intimidating, so one of the ways we have responded is to get vests out so people know who they can talk to…Some people are in a really tough spot, so it is about making it easier,” says Matt.

“When you put the vest on, we kind of go and chat to the people who are standing on their own… The other week we had someone who was visibly distressed, and our volunteer spotted it and started walking with this person. About 500m into the walk, the person started breaking down in tears and the volunteer was able to walk with them, comfort them, walk them back and the person started feeling a lot better,” says Ben.

When people can plug into a community, others can recognise when someone is doing it tough, explains Matt. Increasing those interactions paves the path for cycles to be broken. He says a large number of the people who come are doing well, and they like to remember that feeling good helps create habits that can support them during harder times.

“It’s not a sombre affair, though for some, it is, of course. One of the reasons there is such a big swell of momentum is that it has such a nice vibe; people are coming and they’re happy. I think that also helps lift the spirits of other people a little bit,” says Matt.

Not wanting to make it an event for one particular group, R4R is open for everyone. The team says ages range from young children coming with their families to runners in their 70s, and almost 60 per cent of the group is female. Level of fitness isn’t a factor; you can do as little or as much of the track as you like, it is about connecting with those around you.

“Just rock up. You don’t have to run, it can be walked. You don’t even have to walk, you can come here and wait until everyone gets back and hang out. You can rock up and just come for the chats. Whatever you want R4R to be for you,” says Matt.

“There’s no expectation, there’s no pressure,” Ben says.

As the movement has grown, R4R realised that early mornings and an evening might not work for everyone in the community – especially for those with young children. In October, they launched Strolling for Resilience at the family-friendly time of 10:30am on a Thursday.

“It’s had a fantastic response; we are constantly seeing new participants turn up. We just leave from The Dock and go for a stroll. There are a lot of prams, but everyone is welcome. We walk to the first bridge, but people are free to go as far or as little as they like,” says Jane Collins, co-owner of The Dock.

Each week, they book a table at On Lake Café for participants to sit, put down some picnic blankets, and have a spot of morning tea with a chat before walking back. Being a parent or carer can be lonely at times, so they knew it was important to ensure those people also felt included in the growing community.

“I had my last daughter at 40 and I feel that the access to mother’s groups is more challenging. There is limited spaces, so it is generally offered for more first-time mums. I bring my daughter along who is now three,” says Jane.

Whether you want to work on your fitness, get out of the house or just have a drink and a chat with welcoming folks, there is no downside to attending a Running for Resilience event.

“We fill this boardwalk with 350 people, and moving together under the agreement that we’re pursuing this goal adds meaning to it. It makes you feel like you are part of something bigger than yourself, and it is just an unreal combination,” says Matt.

“I’ve never seen a single person in a bad mood after a run; that’s what I discovered with Park Run. No matter what mood I was in, if I went and did some exercise, got some sweat and the heart rate up, released endorphins, and then sat down to catch up with friends who had just done the same, everyone was in a good mood,” says Ben.

Join one step in front of the other towards a suicide-free Canberra with Running for Resilience; runningforresilience.com

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