By Brett Kennedy
HAS an unusually large volume of runners powered along your street recently?
Maybe you have passed a sea of walkers all wearing bright blue shirts emblazoned with two well-known Mount Gambier landmarks.
If this sounds familiar, you probably unknowingly witnessed the mini phenomenon of Harry Thurlings’ SVC (short for the less catchy Strava Virtual Challenge).
The weekly event has united people from all walks of life, from string bean teenagers through to more ‘seasoned’ campaigners.
The concept was sparked after the popular Saturday morning Parkrun event, held on a 5km Blue Lake circuit, was put on hold due to COVID-19.
Removing the social and health-conscious event from peoples’ lives, Mr Thurlings witnessed motivation wane among regular participants.
Inspired to keep people active and return the social aspect of fitness to their lives – albeit through technology to meet coronavirus restrictions – Mr Thurlings launched SVC 1 in early April.
Conceding he borrowed the concept from Millicent running guru Brad Tilley, Mr Thurlings has since been overwhelmed by its popularity with the 28th SVC held this week.
“I thought we’d get a dozen people and now there’s 90 on our list, of which 60 are very regular,” Mr Thurlings said.
Courses have varied from flat and fast segments along the Mount Gambier Railway Lands to the test of trails and hills around the city’s crater lakes and Telford Scrub Conservation Park.
Participants record their run on a smart device and upload it to the global fitness app Strava, where Mr Thurlings pre-logs the segment to generate a leaderboard.
“The fast people do 5km in 20 minutes and the slow ones doing up to an hour,” he said.
“The most important thing is to go out and go for a walk each week.”
Mr Thurlings has a background in engineering, which means meticulous planning around any potential safety hazards.
With the weather heating up, he recently polled participants through the Mount Gambier Runners Group Facebook page about their willingness to continue trail runs as snakes become more active.
It was decided to stick to the pavement for now as a precaution.
“Parkrun has a theme of being inclusive to everyone, it doesn’t matter your age or ability you can do it,” Mr Thurlings said, adding he had tried to replicate that same mantra.
Posting the next week’s course around 6pm each Saturday, Mr Thurlings said the arrival of daylight savings could add to competition for the Crown – the Strava achievement for the best time on a segment.
However, a large group has become more inclined to tackle the course Sunday morning, usually at a leisurely pace, followed up by coffee and a chat.
“The social aspect is very important, it gives people a reason to get out,” he said.
The future of Harry’s SVC remains unknown, with Parkrun Australia last week writing to the State Government seeking to reopen its 38 parkrun events across the state, stating it believed the organisation complied with SA Health requirements.
Should the Saturday morning event return, Mr Thurlings hopes to take a break from course planning but would like to continue the SVC movement in a reduced form.
“It won’t be dropped all together but we will definitely change the format,” he said.
It is a promise Harry will have to keep given the popularity of Harry’s SVC shirts, made by participant Leanne Doddridge, which feature both the Centenary Tower and the rail corridor’s Tracks sculpture.
Visit the Mount Gambier Runners Group on Facebook for more information on the SVC.
