A BALLARAT running coach has seen and felt the difference running with others can have on mental health and wants to break down barriers to people pulling on sneakers.
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Evolution Runners founder Louelle Blanchard said most people could run but the hardest part was to keep people running.
A new study into running culture has found exercise to be socially contagious. A five-year look at 1.1 million people globally running in social networks deemed knowing what friends were doing and being part of that served as strong motivation to keep going, according to science journal Nature Communications. The study also found less active runners tended to motivate more active runners, but not as much the other way around.
Ms Blanchard said social media had opened up so many ways to be part of a running community, sharing your story and finding advice from others in what was traditionally a solo sport.
But it was important to just get started and tap into support – a notion backed up by study results that suggest interventions to spark the ‘running bug’ spread behaviour change more effectively.
“I try to run every day and it’s had a positive impact on my sense of mental wellbeing,” Ms Blanchard said.
“Now, I help other people across Australia through email, social media and text message to make running part of their lives. It’s really not about how fast you run...having a sense of community around you with your exercise – in person or online – is something many of us don’t realise is important but is priceless when it comes to staying motivated.”
Ms Blanchard is quite open in blogs about her own mental health and what she has learnt in running. A runner for almost 20 years, Ms Blanchard draws a lot personally from the resilience in those she coached.
“I don’t just want to teach people about times and technique, it’s the process they go through and how their lives become happier and healthier,” Ms Blanchard said.
Ms Blanchard’s eight-week online learn-to-run program, Project Run, is open for registrations until Sunday. The program also features in-person coaching for Ballarat runners.
Her aim is to see more people join the wider Ballarat and online running communities and spread the ‘running bug’.
For more information visit www.evolutionrunners.com.
