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]
you