Laying the tracks for a suicide-free Canberra, Running for Resilience (R4R) has gained quite a following in its five years of weekly runs. Recently receiving charity status, the team has wasted no time reaching out to community establishments to partner with and further spread their vision. Last Friday, 26 July, they launched their first partnership with an O-Week run at the University of Canberra (UC).

“We were blown away by the turnout. Students have so much to choose from during O-Week, but that so many came and got around our message of exercising with friends when times are tough was awesome to see,” says Ben Alexander, co-founder of Running for Resilience.

Around 60 students and university staff members laced their runners and joined the promotion of mental and physical wellbeing and enjoyed a coffee on the uni – a great way for all to start the upcoming term. Aiming to make it a weekly event, Ben says they are leaving it up to staff and students to decide if they want it to be on Thursday or Friday mornings.

“The run is one way we’re going to partner; we are going to look at doing potential research and all sorts of initiatives. It is so good to have the uni on board working towards a suicide-free ACT,” he says.

It came about when one of the regular R4R runners was having a chat with someone from UC about exercise and mental health, they then set up a meeting with the R4R team. A UC alumnus, the former Brumbies player was proud that his university was keen to work together on this project.

“UC is a really community-minded university, and they want a healthy, happy Canberra. I loved my time at UC and on my time on campus, I wish there was something like this.”

During his time there were a lot of scheduled sports and activities, Ben himself spent a lot of time playing rugby, but he would have loved a no-pressure regular running meet. Students play a huge role in the R4R mission, Ben says although they are more aware now than when he was at uni, we need to educate them on the early warning signs that someone around them might be struggling.

“University, leaving home for the first time, and trying to manage work and studies is an incredibly stressful time in our lives as we try and get our careers going.”

A notoriously stressful milestone in many of our lives, Ben wants to educate university students on the many ways we can support our mental health and wellbeing.

“Running walking, playing soccer, rugby, tennis, whatever – just going out and exercising with friends is one of the best things that can help you, give you energy and make you feel good,” says Ben. “It is something simple that anyone can do and we’re just trying to make it easier for people.”

Having struggled in retirement to catch up with friends around work schedules, Ben believes initiatives like R4R take the pressure of organising out of catching up and exercising. A core part of the R4R mission going forward is setting up more runs around the region and connecting the community in a low-pressure environment.

“So, people know, no matter how busy they are, they can get down for a half hour, have a quick run, walk, talk, coffee and then go about their day. I think that is a big part of making Canberra suicide free.”

Once the UC run is established and running well, they are looking to spread their partnerships even further afield from the Kingston beginnings, Gungahlin is in their sights.

“Mental health doesn’t discriminate; age, sex, whatever, it’s a big challenge trying to make Canberra suicide free and we’re gonna take one step at a time and the uni was our next step,” says Ben. “People are chuffed to hear that there is now Northside location. Even though it is on campus and targeted towards students, people are welcome to run and stay active and hopefully make some new friends.”

When it comes to suicide reduction, any progress is a worthwhile result. However, R4R sees a suicide-free city in their future, by 2033 to be exact. And with a bit of help from the community, they might just achieve this goal. 

“Even if we can only drop the suicide rate by 10 per cent or we save five lives, that is going to be worth all the effort. We’re going to shoot to eliminate suicide, but it is a big ask and it’s going to take a lot of help. The more people we get involved, the bigger impact we have and the more likely we are to achieve that goal,” smiles Ben.

Keep up to date with the Running for Resilience schedule and news on Instagram or at; runningforresilience.com