A pioneering Welsh running athlete has helped organize hundreds of community running events around the country, and recently celebrated his 85th birthday by racing his great-grandson who takes part in them.
“I intended on walking it, but when I got there with my great-grandson, I decided to run it,” 85-year-old Eric Hughes told the BBC. “He beat me by seven minutes.”
Some things never die, and Hughes’ competitive spirit which has seen him medal at 18 consecutive British Masters Championships at various distances, is certainly one of them.
But as he ran through life’s race, his drive to succeed has morphed into the drive to see others succeed. He is one of the most prolific organizers and volunteers of Britain’s “ParkRuns” a community running event that started originally as a simple club that ran a 5K in London three times a week in 2004.
It has exploded in popularity since then, and with 20 days until ParkRun’s 20th anniversary, there are now more than 1,200 ParkRuns around the world according to the BBC, including countries as diverse as Estwani, Malaysia, Japan, and Austria.
“Hundreds of thousands of Parkrunners are processed, websites updated and millions of emails sent each week,” the official ParkRun website states on its home page. “The ParkRun community is growing all the time—but it’s all still based on the simple, basic principles formed from the start: weekly, free, for everyone, forever.”
Hughes helps organize the senior Parkrun in Bridgend, Wales, on Saturdays and the Sunday version for juniors in nearby Porthcawl. He has helped organize over 500 ParkRun events since he became involved with the movement, and told the BBC he especially enjoys watching young children take part to highlight “the natural ability they’ve got.”
“I think eventually we’ll have such good athletes in this country and that’s because of the ParkRuns,” Hughes added.
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He celebrated his 85th birthday with (what else?) a ParkRun, in which his great-grandson joined in. Hughes couldn’t replicate the success he enjoyed throughout his life against another member of his family—his brother Lynn—another runner who actually broke the world four-hour barrier for 40 miles on track.
Publicized at the time, Lynn wasn’t willing to deny Eric’s claim that he was faster than his twin brother.
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Launched in Livonia, Michigan in 2012, the USA has 75 different ParkRuns, which you can find on this map on the organization’s website.
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