Run Talk Run - The Story Up Until Now (3rd Edition)

One year into the Run Talk Run (RTR) journey I shared a blog… ‘The Story Up Until Now'. It answered many a-question on how RTR came to be.

Today, RTR is celebrating it’s THIRD BIRTHDAY! This little toddler is growing. And so, I will write the third edition of our story so far. I will include (without any alteration) the very same writing that I entered into the blog post on that first year, and update you on everything that has happened since that has taken us from where we were, to where we are now.

To give some context of our journey so far:

October 2017 - 1 run
October 2018 - 3 runs
October 2019 - 65 runs
October 2020 - 103 runs

It is accurate to describe our runs as a collective experience. No run leader is more important than an attendee. It's like one of those huge swarms of birds that you see flying together at the seaside. There would be no telling them all apart... they just fly, together. And boy, are we flying all over the WORLD these days.

Happy reading.

Summer of 2017

I, Jess Robson, was in a particularly bad place in my noggin. Things had started to spiral from about April after some big life changes and fact of the matter was that I just wasn’t coping.

I gave therapy a whirl, and whilst my lovely therapist with a gorgeous soul was likely very good at his job, the relationship just didn’t “click” and I didn’t feel able to share fully what was going on.

I spent a fair bit of time going home during this weird, low phase. My mums a keen runner (LOL #understatement) and she quite rightly dragged me out on a Sunday morning whenever I spent the weekend at home. It dawned on me that I was opening up far more during these long runs than I ever did sat face to face with my therapist.

October 2017

I was finally running more and more again. My mums encouragement and inspiring messages were putting me back on a path to recovery through the sheer pounding of pavements. I realised (not for the first time) that this was MY SPACE. This was where I felt good about life, and I felt like the sharp edge of depression was beginning to soften.

I was part of an online fitness community at this point who shared a group whatsapp, and I suggested to the group that us Londoners made a habit of meeting to run and chat. I explained (in not TOO many words) the position I was coming from – #MentalHealthWarrior – and there was just one girl (out of hundreds) who actually agreed this was indeed a lovely idea.

We met once, we ran once, we spoke briefly about anxiety and then that was that – she didn’t come along again.

By this point I’d decided that to get a solid group of people together to run with consistently, weekly, I was going to HAVE to reach beyond my own friendship groups and contacts. I asked Instagram to put the idea of “Run Talk Run” out to their friends, and I gained a running buddy that way, who I am now lucky enough to consider a wonderful wonderful friend.

November & December 2017

Still very much in the throes of depression, I took it upon myself to position myself in the same spot every week outside Monument Station. I was lacking esteem, unsure of what the fuck I was really doing there. I was reaching out to everyone I bloody well could but the idea just simply wasn’t gaining any traction (or so it seemed).

Instagram followers were increasing, I was speaking to plenty of people about the wonderful benefits of running for our mental health. Everyone seemed to agree that this was just a brilliant idea so why was no one ever bloody showing up?!

I doubted VERY much whether I could see this through.

It was during these two months that I met the wonderful Tom Haswell, who I had the pleasure of meeting and running with a few times just before the Christmas break. It was through the (brutally honest) truths shared between us on those runs and the encouragement that he gave that allowed me just enough motivation to just keep trying.

January 2018

The Christmas break made me really sit down and consider whether pursuing Run Talk Run was potentially making me more ill. I was lacking in esteem to such a huge extent and still not really out of the mental funk I had found myself in.

Putting myself and my ideas “out there” and seeing them not really come to any fruition was really fucking tough.

I genuinely feel that if it were not for the support of my mum, and the mental health community on Instagram (big up Sanctus and their very inspiring ways!), I would have most definitely thrown in the bucket.

But (obvs) I carried on and decided to just go flippin’ HAM on this thing. I began contacting every mental health charity and organisation I could think of and told them what I was up to, asked if there was any support for these projects, asked for their advice. I got plenty of “advice” from all angles, but it was Rethink Mental Illness that really stepped up to the mark.

I met with Sam from Rethink who is a support group coordinator, and to be honest, even with the “mental health focus” I had never even considered RTR to be a support group. But it was the perfect way to look at it. Needless to say, the support and guidance from Rethink were a BLESSING and I was commended on my ability to show up week on week without anyone turning up. I was assured that this is what EVERY support group experiences when they first start out and if I could make it through “that phase” I could make it work, period.

February & March 2018

Rethink didn’t solve ALL my problems, mind you. I was still very much struggling to attract any consistent runners. I had myself and a team of 2 (Bryony and Tom I flipping love you!) and occasionally we’d be joined by a passer-through.

It was still REALLY fucking cold during these months and waiting outside the Runners Need shop at Monument not having a clue whether anyone would show up was (I won’t lie) feeling a bit silly almost. The biggest benefit I was seeing from Run Talk Run were these two close friendships that I was forming, and the fact that I was running consistently every Thursday. Because even when no one showed up I would get the fuck on with the run anyway regardless.

Numbers are growing and smiles are getting bigger!

April 2018

Spring time saw the runners slowly begin to increase. Where I might have just 1 or 2 people show up previously, Run Talk Run was beginning to look more like a team of 4-8 people.

It goes without saying that seeing this many people run together, chatting about their shit and really “connecting” made every cold night running alone worthwhile.

I’d been doing a HELL of a lot of work on my mental health at this point, and it was a combination of self-improvements and Run Talk Run-improvements that were really just pulling me further and further away from the black dog. The further I was pulled from the black dog, the more I felt able to really give my all to my runners.

June 2018

A short while before The Bridge Gym had confirmed their willingness to be the Run Talk Run home, I had been in contact with The Gym Group to see about hosting it from my local gym to work. The prospect seemed SO out of reach, and SO unlikely that I didn’t even give the request to The Gym a second thought.

I’d found RTR a home now, so I almost just had nothing to lose by really pushing hard on the “big-boy-chain-gym” and so I decided to get back in touch with the gym manager. The answer, to my complete and utter surprise was a YES – I could host RTR from The Gym. Surprised was an understatement (yep, I cried again).

So now we have two weekly meets – one from The Gym Waterloo (SE1 8UX) on Tuesdays and one from The Bridge Gym (SE1 0NQ) on Thursdays.

July 2018

Run Talk Run celebrated our first birthday with a 5km jog around Hyde Park followed by a picnic! We were fortunate enough to have a talk being delivered by the the wonderful Dan Furlong and it all went without a hitch!

August-October 2018

At the very beginning of August 2018 we were fortunate enough to share the RTR mission live on BBC news, which was a great opportunity to tell the world what we've been up to.

Run Talk Run Peterborough arrived at the end of the 2018 summer, and this was a MASSIVE turning point. When Jen started her RTR in a town outside of London, what she didn't realise she would be doing is actually inspiring runners up and down the country to follow suit.

I genuinely attribute a lot of the RTR growth to Jen Oliver purely because she showed runners what we could achieve, together, virtually. We don't need to be in London to be associated with one another. We can offer this support for our local community wherever we happen to find ourselves residing.

From this point onwards, I was probably getting an enquiry to set up a new Run Talk Run every month or so, with a big key turning point being receiving our first request for a RTR outside of the UK... Run Talk Run North California!

November - December 2018

The creation of groups outside of England, threw into question as to whether Run Talk Run could continue to be supported by Rethink Mental Illness. We decided to go it alone.

In November 2018, I left my 9-5 job to dedicate more of my time to the work we're doing, and Run Talk Run became a CIC.

Our runs were getting chillier and chillier but the support just grew and grew and even the more "new" Run Talk Runs emerging were getting better attendance.

We spent our first "Christmas Party" at the Duke of Sussex.

our first Christmas celebrations together!

January - June 2019

January saw the start of multiple Run Talk Runs making their debut runs up and down the country. Who can remember RTR Tooting when it was anything less than 10 runners?! Madness!

In Spring 2019 I threw myself wholeheartedly into keeping up with the volume of enquiries of people wanting to set up Run Talk Runs. This was a welcome distraction from my own emotional turmoil and some MEGA life changes. We now had around 15 runs, and it took me a while to figure out processes and systems of looking after so many run leaders at once.

In May we hosted our very first RTR Track session, continuing to make running less intimidating as a byproduct of what we do.

July 2019

July was an incredibly busy month for Run Talk Run. We launched about 15 new runs across London with the support of the MoreYoga studios, with most of these runs now being hosted by several Run Talk Run leaders.

This was the month where we also introduced our very first "merch". The wonderful team at Gato helped us create what is now our iconic black and white RTR tee. You can buy yourself a T Shirt or Vest in our online shop.

We also had the most fantastic opportunity to host a run at Love Trails this year, which was an incredible way to bring the RTR Love to running communities who might not have otherwise heard of the supportive environment we've been creating!

Sharing our movement with the people at Love Trails

August 2019

Our second birthday party rolled around far quicker than I ever could have expected. We celebrated proudly, bringing our runners and run leaders from around the UK to Pub on the Park in London Fields, Hackney. We completed 1km loops around the perimeter of the park, we listened to some AWESOME speakers, including Jane Vongvorachoti and Emily of Twice the Health and heard a few of our run leaders share their experience. The day was rounded off with some beautiful music from one of our Reading runners.

August also saw our very first Parkrun Takeover. Over 40 Run Talk Runners showed up to provide marshals and volunteers to ensure the Tooting parkrun went without a hitch, with cakes baked by runners in the community and a real sense of what we're all about was palpable.

October - December 2019

These were some turbulent months for me personally. I made the decision to leave London and move back home to Sussex. This meant leaving the original RTR in Southwark (which I still attend as much as I can!) and setting up a new RTR in Eastbourne.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though! In November 2019 I travelled to California for 3 weeks which meant I got to meet and run with the RTR North California community who were celebrating one year of Run Talk Running!

January 2020

This year (believe it or not) was actually off to a CRACKING start before Covid hit us.

RTR represented at the National Running Show and I spoke on the Inspiration Stage about my journey and the RTR journey up until now, supported by Leaders in the audience who clapped and provided Diet Coke!

In January myself and Izzy (a good friend who I’ve only met because of RTR!) had a trip to NYC where we hosted a run for the Lululemon store at Flat Iron.

February - July 2020

All flew by in a Covid blur. Despite not being able to run together physically, I was blown away by the way the RTR Leaders went out of their way to host a safe space online for their runners.

Read Talk Read was born, Run Tag Run (over Whatsapp) was born, the RTR Podcast was born, RTR Zooms were born.

We were apart, but still very much connected.

And not only this… a complete RECORD of people were reaching out to me about starting a RTR for when lockdown was lifted. I couldn’t wrap my head around how engaged everyone still was in the community that we’d been building despite the main element of what holds us together being taken away.

July - August 2020

It had been a loooong time coming, but finally this summer we ditched the logo that had been created in a Word Document in less than 5 minutes and rebranded ourselves with an iconic new logo that spread across our social feeds like wildfire. A facelift like no other!

Alongside the rebrand, we started launching runs in new locations from Croydon to Bangor to Hastings to Totnes, taking our current number of RTRs to 103!

October 2020

Instead of letting Covid slow our beautiful storm, the pace quickens for the growth of this community. On the second week of October we launched our VERY FIRST proper Run Talk Run “Organised Run” in collaboration with UltraX. This race that will be held in January 2021 will raise £20 with every ticket entry which will be donated to the NHS Charities Together fund. We are incredibly excited to see how much impact this could make. The route is an ultra distance through the streets of the RTR hometown - London - taking in iconic landmarks and most importantly, the original Southwark RTR Route too.

NOW

I write this with a bittersweet feeling. I so wish I could be celebrating the Run Talk Run birthday with Leaders and Attendees as we have done the past 2 years. I’m an emotional girl, and stolen moments like this really do cut to the core. I’ll happily admit that I’ve had a good cry about this.

But irrespective of our inability to come together to celebrate this community, on our third birthday, I would like to think that every Run Talk Run leader can give themselves the most incredible huge pat on the back and virtual high five to each other for the support they are putting out into the world. Be that virtually, or in physical presence with their runners.

What’s next for Run Talk Run?

We’re working on seeking sponsorship for RTR as we speak, which we hope will improve our prospects of sustainability and improving the service tenfold. We’ve increased the number of volunteers who are offering their time to help us reach more run attendees who could really benefit from the service, and we’re only increasing the number of RTRs by the day. We have the Rainbow Run to look forward to in January, and maybe this will act as a somewhat delayed Third Birthday celebration!