Why running and baking competitions make for greater resilience

What kind of resilience does it take to run a marathon? How about 2 marathons, back-to-back? That’s a topic I explored with documentary maker and undercover psychologist Enver Samuel.  Enver runs marathons, perhaps not for fun, but for balance.  And he once ran 2! 

The Comrades is run between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and alternates each year between an ‘up’ run starting from Durban, and the ‘down’ run starting from Pietermaritzburg, taking on the challenging ‘Big Five’ set of hills. The race distance slightly varies each year but is approximately 90kms.

The memory of having achieved this feat, and the internal self-confidence it built in him, is what Enver returns to when faced with other challenges in his life. If I could do that, I can do this.

Not being much of a runner myself, this seems an unimaginable task to take on.  

But each one of us has faced challenges, each one of us has pushed through barriers. If required, this should be sufficient to prove our worth to ourselves.

For some people, it may seem as though they have had fewer barriers and more privilege, and of course this may well be true. Yet to be human is to have emotions, to have dreams and aspirations…and it’s the very very few who have never felt sadness and despair, who have everything they’ve dreamed of, and have everything they want and need.

One of the aspects of film and television making which Enver focuses on is what lies behind each person and situation. The ability to build the trust and foster the conditions for the facades to drop and for people to share more of their story. Every situation is an opportunity to look beyond, to look under, to try to understand.  That holds true for a hard-hitting documentary like Murder in Paris, and for reality-tv baking-competitiveness.

To deliver anything takes hard work, resilience and a belief in yourself.  To spend 4 years working on a documentary, with the ups and downs, the quiet times and the chaos, takes all of these combined with a strong sense of purpose. And to create something that brings someone special to life for their family, friends and fans, is truly magical. 

A feeling of fulfilment and joy that might be akin to the feeling of finally sitting down and taking your trainers off at the end of a double marathon.

[Go to https://murderinparis.com/home for more information about the assassination of Dulcie September and the documentary Murder In Paris, and https://awethu.amandla.mobi/petitions/justice-for-dulcie-1 to sign the petition to re-open Dulcie’s case]

Baking, running and seeing behind the façade, with Enver Samuel — podcast

The illustration below depicts the journey of the podcast episode with Enver, have a read. 

Hear my whole conversation with Enver Samuel

Thank you for reading our blog post! We hope you found it informative and engaging. If you enjoyed our content, we have more to offer through our podcast and monthly newsletter. Here's how you can stay connected and get even more value from Humans at Work.

Book Jules as a speaker: you can book Jules to speak at your event, be a panelist or to come and talk to your organisation - either online or in person.  Book a free initial conversation via Calendly.

Support us: consider supporting us on Ko-fi here if you liked this content.  This will help us continue celebrating diverse humans and our collective ability to improve social equity and environmental regeneration through individual, organisational and system-level change!

Check out our Podcast here: Listen to other human stories and hear how their unique personalities and experiences have shaped them. These fireside chats illustrate how joyous it is to engage with another person, to be curious, and to recognise the value they bring just by being there.

Sign up to the Human Hub: Stay up-to-date with the latest Humans at Work newsletter. By joining the human hub, you'll receive regular updates delivered straight to your inbox. We value your privacy and promise not to spam you! To sign up, fill out the subscription form on our website.

Connect on LinkedIn: Follow Jules via Jules' LinkedIn.  And don't forget to join the conversation by following Humans at Work on Linkedin, to get real-time updates and engage with other like-minded individuals. 

Jules and the Humans at Work team greatly appreciate your support, and look forward to connecting with you!