How can someone prepare for a group leader role, without a sporting background?
Someone with a teaching background has been nominated to lead their group for the challenge, but has never taken on a role like this before. How should they prepare or train for it?
Answer
Preparation for this role works best across two dimensions: physical readiness and spiritual or emotional readiness, since leadership on this challenge involves both.
Physical preparation
On the physical side, building foundational fitness gradually, starting with regular walking and increasing distance over varied terrain, is a sensible approach.
A structured programme, such as Couch to 5K, provides a good framework.
Walking deliberately in wet conditions beforehand helps can also help build first-hand familiarity with the kind of discomfort participants may feel on the day, along with the resilience needed to support others through it.
Spiritual preparation
On the spiritual and emotional side, training walks are a good opportunity for personal reflection, which in turn helps prepare a leader for the contemplative discussions they’ll be facilitating with the group.
Considering the challenge’s core themes in advance – the difficulties refugees face navigating unfamiliar terrain, lessons about trust during trials, and gratitude for blessings often taken for granted – helps a leader speak about them authentically on the day.
Some also find that building in regular voluntary fasting during preparation helps with getting used to physical activity under some degree of hardship, alongside its own spiritual benefit.
Developing empathy
Any physical discomfort experienced during preparation becomes a genuine resource for empathy: when participants struggle, a leader who has felt something similar understands it firsthand, rather than at a distance.
Ultimately, effective leadership on the day isn’t about being the strongest or fastest person there.
It’s about maintaining a steady, supportive presence, and helping participants find their own reserves of strength through both physical endurance and spiritual reflection.