Simple gestures, big impact

Forbes’ morning lake walkers and runners are a friendly lot, and why wouldn’t you be? Ultramarathon runner and Run Against Violence founder Kirrily Dear wants the community to know just how important that is. It’s more than 10 years since Kirrily crossed the finish line of an 860km run for White Ribbon in Forbes, her aim to break to silence around domestic violence. The town made a big impression on her – and one of the ways was as simple as saying “good morning”. Kirrily’s now annual Run Against Violence challenge brings together people from many areas, so she spends a lot of time travelling, visiting and speaking with people. “Most days I go out running or walking in the morning and I started noticing the different attitudes around towns - the response people give you in the morning when you say “good morning!”” she explains. Kirrily makes the effort to smile and say good morning – and for more than 10 years now she’s been keeping track of the responses she gets. Forbes – to this day – is the only town to get 100 per cent. “I was down around on that beautiful track you’ve got there (around the lake) and I was astounded, I was almost the laggard in saying good morning – they were dishing out the good mornings before I had a chance,” Kirrily said. “Not everyone has to respond with a good morning but a smile or acknowledgement of another human being is always a good thing.” Kirrily is struck by just how important this seemingly simple thing is. “It seems simple but it tells you a lot about the culture of the town,” she said. “There is a more serious side, that isolation is that real challenge a lot of people face. “That good morning can change their world, something so simple.” Importantly, good vibes weren’t all Kirrily gained in Forbes. As Forbes High School students formed a guard of honour to welcome her to the town and celebrate her incredible run – through the hottest November in decades – they were holding banners and posters they’d made in the Love Bites program. It was the first time Kirrily had come across the program, and she stopped and spoke with students about it. Fast forward a few years and Run Against Violence is now on a joint mission with them to ensure every Australian teenager has access to respectful relationship education. “We’ve now become a national partner with NAPCAN (the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect) that delivers the Love Bites program and we’ve invested over half a million dollars into that program,” Kirrily said. Run Against Violence today is a volunteer-based organisation established to use running and other sporting activities as a conduit for engaging the broader community in family violence prevention. It was born out of that 2014 run that finished in Forbes. In 2017 Kirrily ran from Broken Hill to Sydney, through Forbes, with 2000 people racing her online in a virtual challenge, which has now become an annual event. You can find out more online at www.runagainstviolence.com/

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