Writing has been a consistent presence in my life for more than twenty years, along with reading, a lifelong habit, and running, which I have been doing on average five times a week for forty years (with occasional forced breaks due to injury). I have run

Writing has been a consistent presence in my life for more than twenty years, along with reading, a lifelong habit, and running, which I have been doing on average five times a week for forty years (with occasional forced breaks due to injury). I have run in many cities in Australia and overseas. My favourite running locations include Wandsworth Common in London, along the Swan River in Perth, and several places in Melbourne, including the Birrarung (Yarra) River and Princes Park near my home.

As a result of the corona virus ‘lockdown’ several of my favoured activities have stopped. But not the running and writing, which go hand-in-hand. Each of my quarantine days begins or ends with a run, bookended by writing and reading. If I did not run, the reading would continue, but the writing quickly dry up. In recent weeks my running track by the river had been as quiet as ever. As I run, I am most often alone, listening to birdsong, taking in the scents of river tannin and thinking about the writing work waiting at my desk for me to return home; a story, poem or essay I mull over as my body and mind thymically connect.

My running at Princes Park has become a different, slightly chaotic affair. Even with the practice of social distancing, park runs have become a crowded affair. Many of those stuck indoors for much of the day, having taken the prime minister’s advice that it’s okay to exercise, seem to have chosen Princes Park as the place to be, even if they have never exercised before. While I’m presently happy to share the park with them, I do hope that when the lockdown ends that some of my park companions decide to curtail their newfound habit.