E007 Julia and Jonathan parkrun 1
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 7
Date: March 15, 2022
Participants: John Webster, Sammy Damaren, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Guests: Julia Heyens and Jonathan Gascho
Start times and Segment Summaries:
[0:00:19] What’s On Your Mind: Sammy and John talk about one of the activities listed in John’s book, in connection with mental wellness: keeping an eye on your state of mind, emotions and feelings.
[0:09:20] Expanding Minds Interview: [Physical Wellness] Julia Heyens and Jonathan Gascho helped bring international phenomenon parkrun to Kitchener, Ontario, where it takes place at Victoria Park every Saturday morning at 9:00 am. This is Part 1 of their interview, where we learn more about parkrun.
[0:25:15] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron recounts an unusual recording studio session during the height of the Covid pandemic.
[0:30:16] Move Your Body: Like Sheila and John, Julie also loves walking. She also noticed something about how it opens up conversations.
[0:35:49] Running Popup: Trying something offbeat, even if it’s embarrassing, sometimes works out in the end.
[0:38:26] Flipside of the Coin: While out for a walk, Sheila talked about keeping balance while performing dance on stage. It’s a great analogy for seeking balance on the stage of life.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
John – The theme that I’m hearing regularly is that the things we say and way we react to people is a big part of the problem. The more we can learn to have open communication, to normalize discussion about mental health and emotions, not only will it be helpful but it will make our experiences richer. We can have richer experiences with each other if we’re not holding back and afraid to be our true selves.
Sammy – Within the workplace, if you’re a female and showing any sort of frustration or anger, someone will always say something about you being emotional. Maybe not outright, but a side comment that makes you put down, because you’re a female in a room of men. You can’t show your emotion. You almost lose your power. You feel weak and helpless because you can’t share or show your emotions.
Julia – parkrun is an event that happens every Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. across the world, in many different countries. It is a run or walk event. Every event is 5 kilometres. It’s meant to encourage people to be outside, to be at their local park and to develop their running skill or walking skills. It is free. There is no cost to participate and minimal equipment required. The idea is that it is accessible to as many people as possible.
Julia – The non-competitive nature of parkrun speaks to the community feel of it, at least it did for me. I’m not a competitive runner in any way.
Jonathan – You can pursue excellence, without needing to beat someone, in order to feel good about yourself. You can both run well together. Running is one of those sports where it is quite co-operative if you have the right frame of mind to do that, and I think that’s a very important component of wellness: not feeling the need to compare yourself to others, and parkrun achieves that goal quite well.
John and Sheila – It’s over the course of a lifetime that you’re trying to achieve balance. At different times you need to focus on different categories, and balance is always changing. And your life circumstances are continually changing. And that’s why you need to keep checking in. It’s not a spot. It’s not like you’re trying to get somewhere and then you’ve arrived. You’re trying to achieve balance in a moment, and then the next. It’s very fluid. You’re holding balance in a way, but it’s ever changing.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by Cameron: There’s at least one scenario where we’re belly laughing as hard as we can, every time.
Guest Information:
Julia Heyens is a leisurely runner. She was attracted to parkrun for its inclusive nature and community feel. She started attending events when she visited her sister in London, England (where parkrun started). She helped bring the event to Kitchener, Ontario. Julia is a registered midwife, currently on parental leave keeping busy with my 6 month old child.
Jonathan Gascho is a local runner and a Wilfred Laurier University graduate. He became involved with parkrun to help remove barriers that make people believe that they are not, and can never be called a runner. He lives in Waterloo and work at Running Room – which sells all things running related. He is another person who helped bring parkrun to KW
parkrun Contact information:
Victoria parkrun website (Kitchener, Ontario): https://www.parkrun.ca/victoriakitchener/
parkrun Global/ International website: https://parkun.com/
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila and Julie