440 Run Club Turn up to connect

[Music]

so my alarm has just gone off

it’s saturday it’s 3 40 a.m

and like most saturdays i’m exhausted

but i know i’ve got to get up i’ve got

to lace up

and i’ve got to turn up and you know why

because this is good for me so i drag

myself out of bed

i make my way to the kitchen i grab

myself a big glass of water

then i throw on my clothes i put on my

shoes

and i’m out the door i jump into my car

and start making my way to the beach

i make a stop up the road and i grab a

couple of coffees

and then i’m back on my way

it’s now 4 25 as i pull up at the beach

i jump out of the car with my coffees

i look across the road and there’s my

mate

so i head over to him i hand him his

coffee

i give him a big high five and then we

pull each other in for an even bigger

hug

and like most saturdays i ask him

how are you mate well i’m better after

that hug

i needed it today because it’s been a

long week

and i’m tired and getting up in the dark

is not easy

but there’s one thing helping me get up

today and that’s this guy next to me

but i know i’ve got to get up for myself

so i look over my mate cheers my coffee

we lean back and we

sit down and talk about the week that

we’ve just had

the fun times the training adventures

also the challenging times

because there’s a fair few of those and

as we’re talking we see the car lights

come down the hill cars start to park up

people jump out there’s high fives

there’s hugs

the connection it’s live it’s right in

front of us

now there’s a few murmurs and the group

starts to gather at the bottom of this

hill

i look out of my mind we know that we’re

moments away

from our weekly run club about to start

and so we bring the group in tight come

on bring it in

and we say hi

and we say the same question that we

ask in every single run club around the

world

hands up who’s day one it is

there’s some nervous looks around the uh

around the group because

they don’t know what they’re about to

get themselves into

and we both have a big smile and we say

welcome

to the 440. now you’re probably thinking

what is the 440

so the 440 run club is a face to face

skin on skin inclusive community now we

come together

every saturday morning rain hail or

shine

and we start in the dark and move

together towards the light

people run some people walk

and some people just come for the hugs

and the high fives

and it’s a loop run so no one gets left

behind

you could do one lap you can do 10 laps

or whatever works for you

firstly we run then we dip

and then we sip

it’s open to all abilities and all ages

and all diversities no one is measured

and no one is judged

and what toddy and i really love about

the 440

is we love seeing all the newcomers

every week

connecting with the existing members

now remember those existing members were

once upon a time a newcomer so they can

relate

and what we also love is we love the

stories

the new stories each week amongst our

community

and they’re real stories now there’s

thousands of stories that

we are blessed with every saturday at

every single run club

around the globe one that we really love

in particular is about a guy named joe

now joe was once fit played a lot of

sport as a kid

grew up got married had a couple of kids

started to put his work in his family

before himself for years

joe became unfit didn’t want to get up

out of bed

because he was scared he didn’t know

how to do it joe’s been watching our

social media account

for months seeing all the photos

like you can see here seeing all the

connection

didn’t want to turn up one day he turns

up for his day one

she’s seen the look on our faces we were

stoked

we brought him in for a massive hug like

we do every week

explain to joe about what’s about to

happen

five o’clock goes we start running

everyone starts taking off up the hill

now within minutes joe has had back taps

interactions people introducing himself

introducing themself

and random people because they can

relate to joe’s story they can relate

to their day one

joe’s now halfway through the run and

it’s a tough run it’s 440 meters up the

hill

he’s running up struggling

now from that time he started to the

halfway point joe’s had

back taps hundreds of them he’s had

people coming up going good job joe

you’re doing well

keep going

something amazing happens at that point

tears start streaming down joe’s face

he’s never had a sense of inclusion or

connection like this before

in his life

joe finishes the run come backs down

comes back down to the end looks at

trent nine gives us a massive hug

speechless about what just happened

now he’s a lady he wants to describe it

to everyone but he doesn’t have the

words

now why does this work

it works because they come together

every saturday

now saturdays is probably the hardest

day to get up

traditionally we like to go out on a

friday night for a few hours

and try and get past the week we’ve had

or

we’ve conditioned ourselves that we need

that sleep in

on a saturday

now what todd and i have worked out

is in the early hours of saturday now

that’s the real early hours of saturday

there is no one around the streets are

empty

so the 440s become a platform

for the non-runner

someone who thinks they’re overweight or

they’re insecure

they have a low self-confidence or they

carry any shame or embarrassment

and it’s an opportunity for them to come

and move without judgment

it’s also an opportunity to connect with

like-minded

people and listen to the similarities in

their stories

but what it’s also teaching our

community is how to be vulnerable

vulnerability is the driving force of

connection

and that’s real connection

but what’s more important is that we

need to learn how to connect with

ourselves

before we can have a real connection

with others

now i’ve been a guinea pig for why the

440 works

you see up until a few years ago i had

no connection with myself

i had no identity i wasn’t happy with

who i was

i made poor life choices and i used

drugs and alcohol to fill that void

so when i started the 440 run club

i brought this guy into my life i got

sober

i introduced meditation into my life and

i learned how to sit with myself

i went inward and every day

i started putting myself first i started

practicing self-care

and i learned how to love myself

then i connected with myself and then i

worked out who i was

and what i what it worked out was

we all start in the dark at some stage

and why this is working for our

community

it’s helping our members build a

relationship with their own dark

and help them start their day in it

now it’s also teaching

our members how to turn up for

themselves every day

it’s encouraging them to share their

stories to share their love

and share their energy now this is all

done

through real conversations face to face

and that’s how we really get to

understand each other

that is real connection

and we’re now in an age

where most communication is now done

through mobile phones and laptops

community connection is now more

necessary than ever

so how do we continue this work how do

we grow community

and how do you start great question how

do you start

because it’s not easy but it is

rewarding

so what you can do is you can grab a

best mate

and turn up for yourself because once

you turn up for yourself

you can turn up for your mate

pick a course that you can loop and pick

a start time now remember

we start in the dark and we run into the

light

our menu never changes all we ask is

that you turn up on time

you be polite and you help each other

now remember we run we dip and we sip

that is the essence to face to face and

skin on skin

connection

you can do a 440 anywhere because the

440 is everywhere it’s right in front of

all of you right now

all you have to do is start

now you want to know the best way to

connect

get up lace up

and turn up

[Music]

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