Latest / The R4R Podcast: Road to Zero / Tiffany McCormack, Murray Bruce, and Baljit 'Singh' Talwar - A Collaboration with Bravery Trek

Transcript

Tiffany McCormack, Murray Bruce, and Baljit 'Singh' Talwar - A Collaboration with Bravery Trek · The R4R Podcast: Road to Zero

0:00
At Lonsdale St Studio, we believe in the power of
0:02
storytelling to connect people and create change.
0:05
That's why we're proud to be the production partner for this
0:08
Running for Resilience podcast. Great.
0:10
Well, welcome to the AFRA Podcast.
0:12
And this afternoon I'm here with Balchit Singh Tower and Tiffany
0:16
McCormack. Welcome.
0:18
Thank you very much. And and this is an interesting
0:22
podcast. We've been left without grown up
0:25
supervision. Matt and Ben are elsewhere.
0:27
I don't know what they were thinking, but this is an
0:30
interesting podcast about R for R and bravery, trust and the
0:35
work that they're doing for veterans, serving people and
0:37
their families. And there's an interesting link
0:39
of these two communities. But let's start by introducing
0:43
our podcast guests. Singh, tell us a bit about
0:47
yourself. Hi, I'm Singh and I've been
0:51
involved with running for Resilience for quite a few years
0:55
now, about six years. And for Bravery Truck Bravery
0:59
Trek, which is part of Bravery Trust for 3-4 years now.
1:03
And looking at both the communities, the work they do is
1:07
amazing. And that's how my journey
1:10
started with working with very different diverse style of
1:16
running groups, helping many people like visually Impaid for
1:23
Achilles or Defence veterans at Bravery Trek, or just having a
1:27
chat, having a run and listening to people's stories during early
1:33
morning running for Resilience runs.
1:35
So it's been a great journey and a very good learning experience
1:39
for the past few years. Seeing I was thinking through as
1:41
we were preparing for this, the social media that I've seen from
1:44
you and we're, you know, we run a fair bit together and I've
1:46
seen you in a number of things. You're always capturing a group
1:52
of people. You're you're always out there
1:54
with others and and sharing and cheering people up and
1:57
contributing to others as as you do things.
2:00
And you said you're in R for R and bravery Trek.
2:03
How many running groups are you really in?
2:06
It's been more than 15 years running in Canberra and I have
2:11
been part of many running groups and I tell everyone, go and try
2:16
it, go and meet people. You'll always learn something
2:19
new. When I'm running in the morning
2:20
I feel free and I listen to people's stories.
2:24
Everyone's wearing a mask or going through something and when
2:29
you talk to them after the run or after the walk, whatever
2:32
they're doing, it's a different tone they have because the
2:35
blood's been running and they are very, they're feeling quite
2:41
open about what's going on. They're happy to share what's
2:45
and face whatever is coming to life.
2:47
So I tell most of the people, come for a walk, jog, talk,
2:51
whatever it is, and the results you'll see after the run will be
2:56
totally different to what you were feeling in bed.
3:00
Yeah. Now look, that's a fantastic
3:01
intro and and having had the privilege of running alongside
3:05
you in many groups on OT, if you've run, we've seen a number
3:07
of times the joy and and that openness that your attitude
3:12
projects. It's such a gift and and we're
3:16
so privileged to to share that. So, Tiffany, over to you.
3:19
Tell us a bit about you yourself.
3:21
Thanks for having me, Murray. And it was really nice to hear
3:23
everything you've said singing so.
3:25
I started off with running for resilience in 2020.
3:31
From there I've moved around a bit, done bravery track I think
3:33
since 2021 when you invited me, Murray I think after we had a
3:36
chance encounter after the. Canberra.
3:38
Marathon and I think that's kind of sparked my love of running
3:43
clubs. I've never really done group
3:44
running before. I'm currently serving in the
3:47
Navy. So when I joined the Navy, one
3:50
thing that I realised, particularly when you're in
3:52
initial training, you don't have much time alone.
3:54
And I started running. It actually started with around
3:57
the February time at Jarvis Bay because in the water all the
4:00
phosphorus lights up. So I started running because one
4:03
day I happened to go for a rundown on the beach and my
4:05
footsteps lit up. So then I started running every
4:08
single day and I absolutely loved it.
4:09
But it was always mostly by myself.
4:11
And I kind of started doing, I think for what you were talking
4:14
about with how good you would feel after a run.
4:17
And I liked being able to challenge myself and find some
4:19
resilience. And through our for our, I found
4:22
my joy of running with other people, which is really nice.
4:25
And particularly we've kind of spoken about it before, Murray.
4:28
But finding a community is really special, particularly
4:31
with military where you're travelling around a lot and
4:33
you're moving constantly. It's nice to be able to find a
4:36
community even though after our I've.
4:39
Come and go on. Across the years it's nice that
4:41
whenever I come back to Canberra I'm able to come and join and I
4:44
know there'll be people there like yourselves who are
4:46
wonderful, who I can run with and just have a chat with.
4:49
And the same goes for Bravery Trek.
4:51
It was something every single year that despite where I was, I
4:54
was able to come together with people who are like minded, who
4:58
really cared about our veterans community and be able to
5:01
contribute to something and contribute to a community that
5:04
travelled with me despite where I was, which is really special.
5:07
Nice. Yeah.
5:08
And what sort of job do you do in the Navy?
5:10
You're behind a desk. Is that your normal job in the
5:12
Navy? No, so I'm what they call an
5:14
aviation warfare officer. So I do all of the weapons and
5:17
tactics in our helicopters, which is a really cool job.
5:19
It's very interesting and I get to travel around the world,
5:22
which is wonderful. My current job, I'm the aide
5:25
that came to the Governor General and she's actually the
5:27
patron of bravery. Trust.
5:29
So it was very. Fitting for me to come into this
5:31
job, having been with Bravery Trust for a few years now, to
5:34
now get to work for someone who's so supportive of the
5:36
organisation, which is really good and and sort of sliding
5:39
into a shirt really. Yeah, exactly.
5:41
Yeah. I'm so is.
5:42
There a story there behind that. So there is a story there.
5:44
So today I actually. I got to work.
5:47
And I read Murray's email more in depth than I had previously
5:50
and it told me I should wear my Bravery Trek shirt today.
5:53
And I had left all. Of mine at home, conveniently.
5:55
Because the office holds the patronage, I actually went into
5:59
our cupboard and there was one of these hanging up ready to go
6:02
from last year's Bravery Trek walk.
6:04
So I was very lucky that the office holds all of our shirts
6:08
from Bravery Trust. So you.
6:09
Stole the Governor General's shirt.
6:11
Well, I don't know if it was her exact shirt, but it was someone
6:13
who did it last year. You might.
6:15
Not have been the Governor General that's that's a
6:17
fantastic story and a great way to to intro it and and obviously
6:22
you know an incredible role in the Navy that you're doing in
6:25
your day job when you're not supporting the Governor General
6:30
and you got involved with this in bravery trek.
6:34
We've mentioned Bravery Trek, What's Bravery Trek?
6:37
Can you give us a So Bravery Trek supports our veterans,
6:41
particularly in times where they're undergoing hardship,
6:43
things like financial hardship, which is something that is very
6:47
important I think to recognise within the veteran community
6:50
particularly. Because you often see.
6:52
People leaving the military and they are separated from a sense
6:54
of community that they would have had.
6:55
So it's really nice to see an organisation like this that is
6:58
directly trying to help veterans and bring support to those
7:02
veterans and also include a lot of people who are currently
7:05
serving and also veterans into those community engagements as
7:08
well as we see within that kind of month every year.
7:11
So it's easy for veterans to get disconnected.
7:13
And I know of you through your dad who we served in submarines
7:20
together many decades ago. Yes, you know, there's a museum
7:24
piece half the way to Melbourne that we both served in, but the,
7:30
the your, your family experience would be about that, that
7:35
bonding and that camaraderie within the military, but also
7:39
that separation of those communities as as people exit
7:42
the military and they go on and do other things, those community
7:46
bonds break, you know, as you you move around, as you move
7:50
into civilian employment and that sort of thing.
7:52
And that creates a series of challenges, doesn't it?
7:54
Yeah, definitely. And even one element, I think we
7:59
had kept somewhat of a strong sense of community throughout
8:03
since my parents had left the military.
8:05
But I think a lot of those were connections that we'd had
8:07
growing up were all those Navy connections that we'd had from
8:10
when my dad was serving. And I think so, I didn't really
8:14
notice the support that you require, but it was probably in
8:16
the last couple of years where I saw particularly him take a lot
8:20
of support through organisations like DVA and even financial
8:24
assistance with the medical side that people go through.
8:27
Because a lot of times people do leave the military and they have
8:29
a lot of different medical complications.
8:31
So it was really important then to see how organisations
8:35
continue to support veterans years down the track after
8:38
they've left. And it's more obvious to me now
8:41
that I'm serving how many of our connections growing up and
8:44
family friends were actually people that my dad served with,
8:46
like yourself, and how important those connections are.
8:49
Because a lot of our very fundamental relationships
8:51
between our families and other close families have stemmed from
8:55
their time in the military back, you know, 40 years ago, which is
8:58
really special. Yeah, yeah, Now it is special.
9:00
And I, you know, I count it myself.
9:02
That's really important. And I come to our for our and
9:05
bump into people the Defence Academy with and, you know,
9:10
great opportunity to, you know, rekindle those relationships
9:13
over time. Now seeing coming to you.
9:18
The Afar community is providing A vital, you know, capability in
9:24
the community to support those with mental health challenges
9:27
and trying to reduce the incidence of suicide one life at
9:30
a time. What's your own take on that and
9:34
and the way that a normal punter coming along to a run and
9:38
there's so many other runs now, the community is getting bigger
9:40
and bigger. What's your your thread on on
9:44
how the the community can support each other from a mental
9:48
health perspective? We have seen the community grow
9:54
and it is helping. We've got results there as well
9:57
where people have acknowledged, various organisations and
10:01
charities have acknowledged that, you know, the stats are
10:05
going down, which is great to see and the confidence of people
10:09
is increasing. There's more people who thought
10:12
they don't know anyone or they don't have a place to go.
10:15
Now there is a third place. While we were running this
10:18
morning, somebody mentioned this third place.
10:20
You know, we all have a family, a work, but sometimes we just
10:24
need that independent freedom where we can think by ourselves.
10:28
And it doesn't need to be a run, it can be a walk, jog, just a
10:31
coffee. And we've been telling people
10:34
every time, even especially the times when you're sick, come for
10:39
a walk, just have a chat, have a coffee with someone.
10:42
Because it's not about just physical health, it's the mental
10:45
health is very important as well.
10:48
And in the past few years we have seen the shift that only
10:52
the runners or the athletes were coming, but now it's everyone is
10:57
trying to come and volunteer. If you see the number of
11:00
volunteers we have every evening or Wednesday night or a Tuesday
11:04
night, the numbers have doubled or trebled.
11:08
And every volunteer is a person who has been assisted in the
11:12
past. So that really proves that
11:15
something is working and the community is growing and trying
11:20
to help each other and that's what we want to see in future as
11:23
well. And seeing you're involved in a
11:27
number of running other running groups, how how do these
11:30
different communities interlock together?
11:35
I find after running for so many years, it's not about the speed,
11:42
the distance or the pace. It's more about just trying to
11:48
help each other. I would really encourage
11:51
everyone to go and run or just participate in something like
11:55
Bravery Trek. When we ran in Brisbane, we ran
12:00
with a lot of people. We did 42 KS for 42 lives lost
12:05
and all along the 42 KS we met a lot of friends, families and
12:10
very close relatives of the people who had lost their lives.
12:13
It was a very an eye opening experience for myself and for
12:18
many others as well and if I didn't do that I wouldn't have
12:22
been so closely understood the benefits of bravery Trek.
12:27
Same way it goes with Achilles. When you go and walk with a
12:32
visually impaired person or person with inabilities, you
12:35
really understand it's not about running or walking or anything.
12:39
It's all about just giving and sometimes the joy you'll get
12:44
after a walk or helping someone will be much more than anything
12:49
else you can thought of. And I really encourage people to
12:54
diversify. There's so many running groups,
12:56
cycling groups, charity runs. When you run and participate in
13:00
those, no matter in what way, as a volunteer, as a tail Walker,
13:05
or just volunteering, in the end, just at the drink stations,
13:10
everything adds up because you'll meet someone who's got a
13:13
purpose and you'll find your purpose as well with them.
13:19
Yeah, Tiffany, another thing in community running, we've seen a
13:22
bit of light and it's really sad news about safety and
13:29
particularly women running alone.
13:31
And, and we, we had a local incident in the last few weeks,
13:35
which is terrible. It's great to see a rallying of
13:38
a number of communities coming together.
13:41
How do you perceive things? You've lived in a number of
13:43
different places. You've you you found joy in
13:47
running by yourself, but you've also running communities.
13:50
What's, what's your, your thread on things there?
13:52
I think it's really interesting, Murray.
13:54
So I feel like Australia generally is quite a safe place.
13:59
And I've liked to think that that's the case to my running,
14:02
but I definitely know that a lot of decisions I've made about
14:05
where I've lived on postings has actually been based around where
14:08
I could go for a run in the morning.
14:09
So even my last posting, I specifically chose a place on
14:12
the South Coast that I knew I'd be able to run every morning in
14:14
the dark and feel safe. Which is really interesting
14:17
because I never would have thought that it was something I
14:20
would necessarily have to consider.
14:21
But I definitely play into that when I'm making my decisions
14:24
about where I run. I think we're pretty lucky where
14:28
I am, particularly in Canberra. I get to run around the lake in
14:31
a very open place and it's nice that in the mornings if I want
14:33
to go for a run, I'll generally come to our for our to be able
14:34
to run with people. But I can see how people would
14:37
feel unsafe in those situations. So it's nice to know that there
14:42
are communities where people can run together if they're not
14:45
feeling safe when they are going for those runs, particularly in
14:48
the dark, which I think is something that our for our has
14:50
really worked on as well. Given the fact that they're now
14:52
running so many different runs that you can now really run
14:56
every day at different times of the day with the community,
14:58
which is really nice rather than just, you know, one or two times
15:01
a week. So I think that is a nice factor
15:03
as well if people aren't feeling safe.
15:04
But it's definitely something that I have noticed.
15:08
I didn't notice it earlier on, but I've definitely noticed it
15:10
now that I'm not living on bases as I was in initial training
15:13
where it's quite safe. But I do pick the place I live
15:16
pretty much based on. Where is safe to?
15:18
Run in the mornings. Yeah.
15:20
Yeah, Yeah. And it's an interesting
15:22
perspective for Singh. And I were, you know, factors
15:24
that we wouldn't even, you know, really take into account there.
15:27
Yeah. Well, running makes me feel so
15:28
safe and free. So I feel like I always try and
15:31
put myself in a position where running will always feel like
15:34
that to me. So I always run in very open
15:36
places. Yeah.
15:38
I find that, yeah, I understand that as a female we feel
15:45
insecure, but there's a lot of people out there who would feel
15:49
insecure as well, no matter from what demographic they're coming
15:53
up or what inabilities they've got.
15:56
Everyone's got some thought at the back, whether it's dark or
16:00
this, so we just need to watch out for each other and help and
16:06
make that place safe as well. And I think it's great.
16:09
There's all these different tribes that run us around town.
16:11
Like I see running groups coming the other way with gazelles, you
16:14
know, just, you know, and I've belonged to running groups with
16:17
people I've never run with because I'm I'm at the tail end,
16:21
you know, chatting. They're at the front end
16:23
puffing. And you know, where betwixt the
16:25
two shan't meet. They they've had their coffee
16:28
and breakfast and and and shower and headed off before I've even,
16:33
you know, got close to getting back in.
16:35
And yet it's a great environment for them.
16:37
It's a great environment for me. So, yeah, fascinating.
16:42
Can we go to Bravery Trust and Bravery Trek for a while,
16:47
supporting veterans through emergency financial support,
16:52
counselling and education. And for those that aren't for me
16:55
with with Bravery Trust, it was initially set up to support a
17:00
small area of defence. It's now much broader and doing
17:04
some great work and the demand is going up.
17:08
And I think as we see cost of living pressures and what have
17:10
you, we're seeing a shift there. And initially their work was
17:16
giving money to people to put meals on tables, to put fuel in
17:19
a car so you can get the kids to school to pay a bond.
17:24
I was hearing a story about a couple that had separated and,
17:28
and the father didn't have money for a bond, so was homeless and
17:35
didn't have somewhere to host his kids, you know, and his own
17:39
mental health was suffering because he couldn't, you know,
17:42
accommodate the kids. That idea of, of providing that
17:47
financial support sadly still persist and there's still a need
17:50
for that. But I think the great work the
17:53
trust is doing is in supporting the counselling to help people
17:59
dig themselves out of the hole. And we, we know that your
18:02
financial security is just a foundational thing that a lot of
18:07
us take for granted, isn't it? That that falls out and you, you
18:11
lose a lot and so many other things in life, your
18:16
relationship suffer. It can affect your employment,
18:19
it can affect your mental health and what have you.
18:21
So the counselling is helping people dig themselves out of the
18:24
hole, advocating on their behalf with financial institutions.
18:28
Some of the financial institutions do some really
18:30
bodgy stuff, get people committing to loans that they
18:34
really can't afford and shouldn't be getting and then
18:37
getting those those loans wiped or getting a payment plan put in
18:40
place that the person can afford and setting them on a right
18:44
path. And then education.
18:46
I, I have this theory about veterans and being one, I can
18:49
probably say this, that we're gifted kids with learning
18:52
difficulties. There's these superpowers on one
18:55
hand of these, you know, you've been in a helicopter, all this
18:58
complexity and stuff going on, but then you're not dealing with
19:03
a profit and loss statement. You're not doing things that
19:06
other people in normal jobs would do.
19:07
And from a family perspective, you might be getting meals on
19:10
the table for you, housing provided, stuff like that.
19:13
You come out and you're at a loss in a number of areas that
19:17
financial literacy can often be missing.
19:24
And when you're removed from that environment makes it a
19:26
difficult environment for some. So I think that that idea of,
19:29
yes, there's the handouts and support, the meals on the table,
19:32
there's the counselling to dig someone out of a hole and keep
19:35
them out of it, because initially they just kept having
19:38
provide money to the same people again and again.
19:40
They've been able to stop that cycle.
19:43
And then the education say, let's prevent people getting
19:46
there in that situation, that impact on their families, that
19:49
impact on their mental health from the get go.
19:51
Now, seeing you, you've been around Bravery Trek for a number
19:54
of years. You've you've, you've come face
19:57
to face with some of those use cases.
20:00
Breaking that cycle is incredibly important, isn't it?
20:03
Yeah, when I started the Bravery Trek, you introduced me four
20:08
years ago, or when we were in Sydney, I had no clue what
20:12
Bravery Trek did because it was just for a run for me.
20:15
But as I kept meeting more and more people listening to their
20:19
stories, I was amazed to see how you just take it for granted
20:23
that anyone coming out of military or is just taken care
20:28
of and they don't have any vulnerabilities.
20:30
But everyone's going through something or the other and I
20:34
have. I think we all need to
20:37
participate whether we are have a background in military or not
20:43
or we have family members or not.
20:46
But if they are ready to serve the country, we should be
20:49
serving them as well. As a non military person, I
20:52
would say it is everyone's responsibility to serve them or
20:57
to help them out when they need it most.
20:59
So we all should be chipping in and helping in whatever way we
21:03
can. Whether it's a charity event,
21:05
whether it's raising funds or even raising awareness, There's
21:09
a lot of people out there who might not be aware that they can
21:12
reach out. So that's, this is one of the
21:14
mediums to raise so that if anyone knows somebody's going
21:18
through or some, some of their family members are going
21:21
through, they can also just reach out to them.
21:25
And probably it's as close as picking up the phone and making
21:29
that, you know, dialling that number.
21:33
Two, yeah, I agree completely with what Singy said and what
21:36
you've said, Murray. The only one thing I would add
21:38
is you kind of touched on this, but I actually was talking about
21:42
it with someone this morning in an event.
21:44
The thing about the military is you get all of these incredible
21:47
opportunities and you never have to really worry about a stable
21:50
income. And as someone who joined at 17,
21:52
I've always had a stable income, which is really something that
21:55
you almost take for granted until you leave.
21:58
And I think it's at the point where people do leave after
22:02
they've served, however long, sometimes 20-30 years, where
22:06
they've always had a very stable income that they know is going
22:09
to happen every fortnight. And they have that stability to
22:12
then be faced with a more unstable world.
22:17
And how do you make sure that you're bringing in a suitable
22:19
amount of money or whatever role they decide to go into?
22:21
So it's really an element. That I think sometimes we forget
22:25
because when you leave the military you often think of a
22:27
loss of community or you think of areas like PTSD.
22:32
But one thing is the fact that you've gone from a long career
22:35
of financial stability, however that might look for each
22:38
individual, and then you're facing something that you've
22:40
really never faced. And for a lot of people, that's
22:42
after having joined at 17 or 18 years old.
22:45
So really their entire adult life has been something they've
22:48
never had to worry about, which I think is why it's important
22:51
for organisations such as Bravery Trust that do support
22:54
that element of veterans once they do leave the military.
22:57
And of course, there's also PTSD and sort of health challenges
23:02
that that people incur while they're in the military.
23:04
They might have served in operations and and come home
23:08
with that trauma, yes, or that, that physical or mental
23:12
impairment. And so you snap away from that
23:16
community, that financial stability and then you then
23:19
you're faced with still carrying that luggage.
23:23
Yes, you, you sort of think, you know, I'm done, my service is
23:26
done. But they can't just check this
23:30
at the gate when they, when they post off their last base or
23:34
their last ship. Yeah.
23:35
Particularly if they are quite tired after having strenuous
23:38
careers away from home. A lot of times, I can imagine
23:42
you would feel like you just wanted to relax and then all of
23:44
a sudden you're hit with a lot of different things that you
23:46
need to consider as well. Yeah, Yeah, yeah.
23:48
Now that's an interesting take on it.
23:49
Yeah. The AFRAF community has a lot of
23:53
serving people and veterans we have.
23:55
It is sort of one of those hidden things.
23:59
You'll find Admirals there most weeks.
24:01
You'll, you'll find people serving in, in all different
24:05
capacities, veterans. So there's this sort of hidden
24:10
military group, sort of sub community within the AFRA
24:14
community. And I know they're, they're sort
24:17
of reaching out and, and, and trying to support others within
24:21
the community, whether they're military or not.
24:23
But it's interesting. We, we often lose sight of that.
24:26
It's only if you know, you sort of, you know, pick faces in the
24:29
crowd and bad haircuts and that sort of thing and, and, and sort
24:32
of thread it through. Well, funnily enough with the
24:35
military community. RFRR I find that.
24:38
Since, particularly since I've moved back to.
24:39
Canberra or anyone I know that has posted.
24:41
To Canberra, every single person I find myself saying that they
24:44
should go to Running for Resilience.
24:46
So even this morning I ran into someone who I hadn't seen in
24:49
quite a few years who's just posted back to Canberra and the
24:51
first thing I said was, oh, you've got to come for Running
24:53
for Resilience on Wednesday nights.
24:54
So I think it's one of those things that there is a few
24:57
veterans or current serving personnel.
24:59
And they're inviting everyone they know.
25:01
Even the Wednesdays that I've been coming recently, it's.
25:03
Been with a group of. 5 or 6 different people that I know who
25:06
are posted to Canberra, so it's actually a great little secret
25:09
community at our for our for veterans as well.
25:11
Nice. And and seeing, I know a few
25:13
years ago after us sat down and said how, how do we be better,
25:18
not bigger? And, and the leadership team
25:22
sort of had a look at things and they, they focused on getting
25:26
better and a number of little things, changes that people
25:31
wouldn't notice. But you know, those changes come
25:33
through. Probably the change in the route
25:35
around the island was one of those things you're adding
25:39
additional venues and stuff like that.
25:40
But that as it got better, it naturally got bigger.
25:45
And then they turn around and went wait on if we're making it
25:48
better, it's going to be bigger. We just got to, you know, bite
25:51
that bullet. And obviously they've had
25:53
supporters like Jason and Rich come on board and support, you
25:57
know, that that that growth, not only in in the number of people,
26:01
but the way they supported each other.
26:04
Seeing how do we avoid that big and that, you know, coming along
26:08
600 people in, you know, summer or daylight savings on a on a
26:13
Wednesday night. How do we avoid that being an
26:16
impediment to that that richness of the community that you can
26:20
continue to support each other from a mental health
26:23
perspective. Oh.
26:25
I don't know whether a void is the word.
26:29
I would say how can we encourage people to come out no matter
26:33
where they are? They don't need to come to our
26:36
for our we should be having communities everywhere where a
26:39
person should feel very safe and comfortable to go out for coffee
26:44
or a walk with community of people.
26:47
So if we can spread the art for our message across different
26:52
suburbs in Canberra or across the borders, that's all I think
26:57
is should be the message. Yeah, that's good.
27:01
Tiff, have you got any thoughts there?
27:02
I think one element is no matter how big it gets, I think.
27:07
The big principle for our Farrar is.
27:08
Caring for each other and the community that we've built up
27:11
there so. I think.
27:13
It's even no matter how big it gets.
27:15
If you go there and you see people who haven't got any
27:18
connections within our Farrar, maybe it's their first time or
27:20
they're alone inviting them into the little group that you might
27:23
be running with that day. Or as you if you see them as
27:26
you're running and you happen to be doing the same pace, have a
27:28
chat with them and run along with them for the day.
27:30
Because the scariest. Thing ever I think is.
27:32
Going to a running. Club when you don't know someone
27:33
and. Then trying to work out who you
27:35
should run with and one of the things that are for all that
27:36
makes it wonderful as a running club is the fact that.
27:39
Everyone is so. Inviting so just no matter how
27:41
big it gets, still looking at and caring for the individual
27:44
people that have that have come and braved coming to a new
27:47
running club. Yeah yeah.
27:48
And I think there's that thing of when you finish that run
27:51
you've got that that run as high finishing the run.
27:54
But when you think of it and go who have I done something to
28:00
support? Yes.
28:01
You know have it's almost like it's a free run.
28:05
Your domination is in supporting others.
28:08
Yeah. And how do you think about how
28:12
you make that donation? Yeah.
28:14
Yeah, we have added that element as well, which is we've got
28:19
volunteers as first timers in the West and that has helped a
28:24
lot. People who don't have any
28:27
connections, who are new, they have a place to meet other new
28:30
people as well. And the existing people who have
28:34
been coming for a while, they know all these people are new
28:37
and they just try and make a conversation, have a chat with
28:40
them, make them feel comfortable and that is helping as well.
28:44
So no matter how big the group goes, there's always someone you
28:49
can talk to. And sometimes you don't even
28:52
need to talk to you just come and walk with the new newcomers
28:56
or anything. Somebody will make you feel
28:58
welcomed. There's always people out there
29:00
welcoming everyone. Yeah, no, that's good.
29:03
And and yes, those volunteers with the vests stand out and
29:06
it's a great, great someone to go to, but it doesn't resolve
29:09
absolve us as the rest of the community to to do our bit as
29:12
well, which is which is fantastic.
29:14
So singing Bravery Trek this year you you went and did a
29:20
recce run the other day. Can you tell us a bit about
29:24
what's happening with Bravery Trek in Canberra this year?
29:26
Yeah, we're planning DUS to dawn.
29:31
So in October is it? 7, eighth and 18th. 17th and
29:35
18th of October, Dus to dawn after the Last Post ceremony.
29:41
We'll be running around the War Memorial.
29:44
We'll keep it near the newly built War Memorial.
29:49
Very well, little area. You can come in at any time.
29:52
You can run as teams, you can run as individuals, you can run
29:56
as less you want, or you can do the full 12 hour Dust to Dawn
30:01
solo or in teams. There's various options
30:03
available. And if you're not a runner, you
30:06
can come and walk. You can even come and support
30:09
people volunteering, getting coffees for them at night.
30:13
I know John is one of a very good volunteer who brings coffee
30:18
for us at 2:00 AM runs, so we're looking forward to that.
30:22
But anyway, you can come, spread the word and come and be part of
30:28
such a great event. Yeah, it's going to be quite
30:31
iconic in the first time I've done it around the War Memorial
30:34
and we've just got the agreement to to run the event there, so
30:38
that that's going to be quite special.
30:40
Tiff, are you up for it? I'm very excited.
30:43
I. Have sadly, as you both know,
30:45
been injured. For a couple of years now and so
30:48
I've had a lot of. Years of running in pain and at
30:51
the moment I'm currently running pain free so as long as I can
30:54
continue that I'm so excited because it's my favourite.
30:56
Thing and. The bravery tracks I've done in
30:59
the past, there's been sometimes where I've been in the hurt
31:01
locker. As they say.
31:02
And everyone has pulled me through.
31:04
I think the first really long run I did was the 57 kilometre
31:07
we did for. Bravery track And that was.
31:09
Hard in the hills of Sydney and I think I have a recollection, I
31:13
think we were together, Murray Well, getting a coke out of a
31:17
random service station as we went past near Watson's Bay.
31:20
It was it was for clues. So I'd I'd I'd made the silly
31:24
promise that if I raised for every $1000 I raised in the last
31:30
week before the run, I would run that distance continuously from
31:37
the base of Heartbreak Hill. So if I raised $1000, I'd run AK
31:41
up Heartbreak Hill. And you know, if it was 3000,
31:45
I'd run 3 case. They raised enough to get me to
31:48
the finish line. So I couldn't stop between the
31:51
base of Heartbreak Hill and HMRS Watson at the end.
31:57
So the base was at the 50K mark. So it was, it was hard 7 KS.
32:03
I, I caught up with you or you caught up with me or something
32:07
at Vaucluse, which is the top of Heartbreak Hill.
32:10
And I said, I, I didn't have a phone on me.
32:12
I didn't have any money. I said, Tiffany, can you buy me
32:15
a Coke? I need a Coke to get me to the
32:16
finish. And he bought me a coke which
32:18
got me to the finish, which I'm eternally grateful for.
32:21
So thank you. So look, great opportunity to
32:24
contribute to are for our and and I think it's fantastic.
32:29
Sorry to Bravery Trek in October 17th and 18th of October.
32:34
We'll get some details out through the are for our socials
32:36
about that and and the bravery Trek website.
32:40
Great opportunity to get involved there.
32:42
But I think it's also fantastic this intermingling of the
32:45
support for different communities and and how we can
32:50
support veterans within the are for our community, are for our
32:53
can support the veterans community.
32:56
And that's a, you know, a fantastic thing.
32:58
Sing some some last thoughts from you.
33:04
No. He's speechless.
33:06
No, that's never happened. That's never happened.
33:09
You wrapped it up so I was in my zone but.
33:13
So singing in the Sydney Marathon last year for Bravery
33:16
Trek, you had a beer at the 36 kilometre mark and a spar at the
33:22
39 kilometre mark. What's it going to be at the War
33:26
Memorial this year to get you through the night?
33:30
Last time we did the dust to dawn in Darwin, yeah, we had the
33:39
Kiwi Air Force beat me, I came second.
33:43
And she did 76 KS, I think. Yeah.
33:47
And I did 67 KS, Yeah. So I should keep an eye and make
33:51
sure that Australia. No, no, there are Kiwis, but
33:55
this time Australia would get them.
33:58
So it's competition getting you through this one competition.
34:00
Nice, I like that. What's going to get me through?
34:05
I think it's going to be I will have told too many people that
34:09
I'm doing it and I would have committed too much and so I
34:12
won't be able to let anyone down.
34:13
So right, that's usually my trick is I'll tell even the four
34:17
marathon 44 days a couple of years ago, I think I told too
34:20
many people that I was running them all.
34:22
So despite the fact I was injured, I couldn't back out, so
34:24
I simply had to do it. So that'll probably be the same
34:26
for this one. I'll just nice tell as many
34:28
people as I can so that I don't have the option to stop.
34:31
Beautiful. Well, look, thanks for joining
34:32
us singing Tiffany. Great to have a chat this
34:35
afternoon. Look fantastic after our backlog
34:40
of, of podcasts. I've listened to Lily's, which
34:44
was just just incredible. Jess last week in terms of her
34:51
work for Bravehearts and she's got that coming up.
34:53
Next weekend is no, it's two weekends.
34:57
I think it's the 5th of July in Canberra.
35:00
If you're around, get out and support Jess and and the 777
35:04
Bravehearts team in support of kids and, and supporting them
35:10
with, with challenges with sexual assault and sexual abuse,
35:15
which just shouldn't happen. But fantastic work Jess is doing
35:19
there in fundraising. I think this is 1/5, 7
35:21
marathons, 7 days. So quite a story.
35:24
Great to have you join us today on the after our podcast.
35:27
Matt. I hope we've done an OK job and
35:29
been you shouldn't leave the Keys with us again.
35:32
But anyway, really, really good to to be out today.
35:35
Thanks very much. Thank you very much for giving
35:37
us this opportunity. Yeah, just keep moving, yeah.
35:40
Just keep moving. Cheers.