In the Spotlight: Jenelle Plackett

In the Spotlight this week is 52-year-old Sydney RAVer, Jenelle Plackett. Jenelle is a contributing member of Running Mums Australia, author of the Facebook page, Half a Century Half, fierce social-media presence and all-round wise woman.

How do you like to run?

I took up running relatively late in life, at 48. I run every few days and I am joined by people occasionally, usually on the weekends. I get up very early in the morning to run. I’d feel less safe running at night.

How did you hear about RAV?

Through Running Mums Australia (RMA). I saw the buffs.

What interested you about RAV?

My mantra is stronger, wiser, fitter. As I get older, I feel such an expansion of strength within me. It comes out in my running. Every run is an adventure and I like to be able to use running as a vehicle for my voice. Domestic violence is part of that. What usually happens is that I’ll see something in the news and respond to that by wearing the RAV buff when I go for a run. It’s a great talking point for people.

Whether it’s emotional abuse or physical abuse, I’m sad for those people who are in situations where they really feel they have no other choice but to live through it and in it. It might be because they have kids or nowhere to go and they feel they have to put up with someone menacing them. I think there’s a lot of people who want to support people in that situation.

What else are you particularly passionate about?

I am passionate, at this stage of my life, as a menopausal woman and high school teacher, about the protection, education and mentoring of younger women and men, about recognising safe relationships and modelling positive ways of interacting between genders.

Can running help people who need support?

I think so. If I can say to a friend who’s in a bad place in their life, whether it’s a man or a woman, “Come for a run,” and just during that time they’re appreciating the world around them and don’t have to worry for that hour, that’s a good thing. During that time, you’re also running alongside them, step by step. It’s a powerful metaphor that says, “I’m with you.”

Photo supplied by the sensational Jenelle Plackett.