Anyone who’s worked in hospitality will attest that it can take a toll on your mental health – from the unrelenting pressure of diner expectations, to the uncertainty of shifting rosters, to the misconduct that still goes on in some of Australia’s restaurant kitchens. Despite efforts to combat the trend, it’s not uncommon for hospo workers to clock 70-hour work weeks, forcing the demands of the job into a round-the-clock reality.

But for one hour a fortnight, George Wintle – Attica’s young gun sous-chef and winner of the Best Emerging Chef award at Eat Easy 2022 – hopes to provide some solace in the form of his judgment-free social running club, Ate Miles.

“I’m just trying to just bring some structure to people within hospitality,” he tells Broadsheet. “It’s given me something to look forward to in the morning.”

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Inspired by a chef friend, Wintle took up running in 2021 and was floored by the impact it had on his physical and mental wellbeing. Now, every other Wednesday at 7am, he spreads the good word with a social-paced community jog around Melbourne’s inner north-east.

Though initially intended for industry peers, the club has expanded to include those beyond the hospitality inner circle. “It’s refreshing because you’re not trapped in that hospo bubble,” Wintle says. But wellbeing in the industry is still his bread and butter.

Before Ate Miles, he ran Eat the Issue, an annual fundraising event aimed to address mental health in hospitality. While he still hosts the odd fundraiser (he recently organised a run and breakfast at Hugo’s Deli to support Movember), he tends to take a subtler approach now. “I think people get really intimidated by mental-health events,” says Wintle. “I wanted to make it fun and approachable.”

To that end – despite the action shots all over the Ate Miles Insta grid – you don’t have to be a seasoned runner to partake. “We don’t want anyone to feel like they don’t belong or … can’t run fast enough. It’s so hard to depict that online until you do just come down and experience it.”

And if that’s not incentive enough, after each run Wintle shouts everyone coffee – funded by his Attica tips – as a thanks for coming along. “For like $50 a fortnight, it’s the best money ever spent.”

Ate Miles meets every second Wednesday at 7am at Maap in Collingwood. The next one is January 18.

@atemiles.rc
@georgewintle