Former Wallabies player Ben Alexander founded Running For Resilience in 2019. Photo: Australian of the Year Awards 2026.
When a young Brumbies fan emailed The Dock in December 2019 asking if the bar would host a “one-off run for mental health”, Ben Alexander had no idea the pair were about to help spark one of the ACT’s biggest suicide-prevention efforts.
“He’d lost his Dad to suicide, and his Mum had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so he was going through a rough patch,” the former Wallabies prop and Dock co-founder recalls.
It instantly struck a chord. Alexander, newly retired from a career with the Brumbies and the Wallabies, was also “really struggling” with his own mental health.
“He’d seen something I’d written about how a park run had really helped me transition out of the sport, and deal with the death of my grandmother.”
So Alexander and the young man, named Matt Breen, set a date.
“We said, ‘Yeah, no worries, we’ll shout everyone beer and pizza for this one-off run’, and about 20 people came,” Alexander says.
“We were having the beer and waiting for the pizza to come out, and I said to him, ‘Mate, this was good fun, The Dock will shout again next week’.”
By the second week, 25 people had shown up. Six years later, around 1000 Canberrans take part in weekly Running for Resilience (R4R) events across the city.
“We’ve now got 15 runs a week taking place in different places around Canberra,” he says.
“Wednesday night at The Dock is still the main one … We’ve had 500 or 600 people last summer when the weather’s good. We’re getting about 300 or 400 at the moment.”
For the first few weeks, The Dock shouted beer and pizza … but R4R events grew and grew. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
The effects of exercise on mental health might be one aspect – not to mention the beer afterwards – but the best is saved for the end.
“It’s not about the run, it’s about the catch-up after the run,” Alexander says.
“A lot of people come for the exercise to get fit, but they actually stay for the community and the connection and the friendships they’ve made after the runs.”
As numbers grew, The Dock could no longer shout pizzas – or beers – for the swelling crowds. A beer sponsor stepped in, followed by other venues across Canberra’s hospitality scene.
The Two Before Ten café group now hosts Tuesday and Friday R4R events, giving free coffees to participants. Students who complete the University of Canberra run also score free caffeine.
“We’re hoping more hospitality venues get on board … to understand that hospitality venues can be places where people really connect and do things that are good for their health.”
The University of Canberra also hosts its own Running For Resilience event now. Photo: University of Canberra.
What began as one young man’s attempt to honour his Dad has grown into a city-wide movement – with a bold goal.
“Breen, when he started, he just wanted to save one life from suicide … but then a year after it started, that’s when we started getting messages from people saying, ‘Thank you, this helped save my life’,” Alexander says.
In 2023, R4R announced a 10-year goal to help make Canberra suicide-free by 2033.
“Even if we don’t achieve it – even if we can save a couple more lives, then it’s worth it,” he says.
“There are certainly people who are at higher risk of suicide due to certain factors – their upbringing and the situation they’re in at the moment – but we believe technically every suicide is preventable, therefore we should have a crack at trying to eliminate it altogether.”
The numbers are encouraging. During the pandemic, the ACT suicides hit about 63 in 2021. Last year, there were 38.
“So it’s dropped about 45 per cent or so. A long way to go … but the stats in the ACT are starting to trend in the right direction.”
With crowds now in the hundreds, R4R is on the verge of expanding beyond the ACT and into other states. But Alexander says they have never wanted to make the events bigger, only “better”.
“Some people love the big crowd, but some said they preferred it in the early days… so what we’ve done is we’ve got volunteers now who do a spotter role. Their job is to try and find people that have come on their own, have a chat to them … and help them make a friend.”
There are now nearly 50 volunteers.
Alexander still gets a thrill from the Wednesday night runs.
“I just walk away every Wednesday night absolutely buzzing … it really is the highlight of my week.”
Run For Resilience now has 50 volunteers who help make newcomers feel welcome. Photo: University of Canberra.
Alexander says his own struggle after retiring from rugby made the work both personal and urgent.
“Unbelievably tough,” he says of that period.
“I was struggling even before I retired … and was really worried what would happen.”
The death of his former teammate and friend, Dan Vickerman, was a turning point.
“It was a real kick up the backside for me to try and understand why I was struggling … If there’s any good that’s come from Vicks’s passing … he was a big inspiration for me to try and get on top of what I was struggling with.”
This week, Alexander was named 2026 ACT Local Hero in the Australian of the Year 2026 Awards, recognised for his leadership in co-founding R4R alongside Breen and helping build “a stronger and more resilient community where no one feels they must face tough times alone”.
“There’s probably three emotions – shock, embarrassment and pride,” he says of the nomination.
“It’s a huge team effort … Great things are only done by teams of people.”
Visit Running for Resilience for more information, or to join an event.
