Zero Hour campaigner, Clint Ramos, is running 5km every day—for a year—to raise money for the CAN Bill campaign. Here, he shares how his campaign is going—and how can support his mammoth effort!
What’s the challenge? To run 5 kilometres minimum every day for 365 days.
Why? For the Climate & Ecology Bill—common-sense legislation that we desperately need to address climate change and biodiversity loss.
How’s it going? Well, I think I’ve probably picked up a useful habit.
According to a European Journal of Social Psychology article in 2010, it takes an average of 66 days for a habit to reach its peak “automaticity”. I can confirm this is true.
Initially, morning runs were quite refreshing. In theory, witnessing the sunrise should be a delightful and perhaps a therapeutic experience, and it was. In some cases!
Unfortunately, in most of my morning runs I was still half asleep. However, my morning runs did serve me like an alarm clock, a functionality that I’m certainly grateful for.
However, running eventually became quite mundane, so I had to find ways to keep me entertained, doing things such as:
- Running in nature when I can
- Running with friends
- Wagering with friends (e.g. running before a certain hour, or else lose the bet)
- Running with my eyes closed (when there are no obstructions on my path)
- Singing out loud
- Listening to haiku motivational soundtracks, and
- Running to restaurants/takeaways to eat after my run.
Overall, the experience has been very interesting. Here are some insights:
- I’ve covered 1,700 kilometres so far
- I’ve been chased by dogs five times
- I’ve been clipped by cars three times (don’t worry, it wasn’t that serious!)
- Running in formal clothes is not the one
- As is running when injured
- And when ill
- And running through storms and heatwaves is 100% not the one!
How long to go? 1 month left.
I volunteer for Zero Hour and I see the enormous effort the Zero Hour team gives to collectively try to pass the CAN Bill in Parliament. Their dedication and grit have and continue to give me a lot of motivation to complete this challenge.
Thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way. Those who have donated. Those who have given me words of encouragement. All of which are much appreciated.
The day before the second reading of the CAN Bill, someone floated the idea of me running in a bee outfit on my last run.
Maybe I’ll do that!
You can donate to Clint’s CAN Bill fundraiser online at .justgiving.com/crowdfunding/clint-ramos.
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