Latest news with #parkrun
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Battery Park junior parkrun attracts 25 young runners to 188th event
NINE runners set new personal bests at the latest Battery Park junior parkrun. Twenty-five young runners and 15 volunteers participated in the 188th running of the event. (Image: Supplied) Rory, Maisie, and Freya joined the run for the first time. Drue, Faye, James, Rudi, Ivor, Evan, Noah, Skye, and Harris all achieved new personal bests (PBs). (Image: Supplied) Drue, a visiting runner, was the first to finish with a new PB of 8 minutes 2 seconds. James was the second boy to finish with a PB of 8 minutes 35 seconds, followed by Rudi, who also achieved a PB, completing the course in 9 minutes 13 seconds. (Image: Supplied) Faye was the first girl to finish with a new PB of 8 minutes 33 seconds, followed by Amber and Leah, finishing in 10 minutes 30 seconds and 10 minutes 59 seconds, respectively. The successful event was made possible by 15 volunteers, and more volunteers are needed for the coming weeks. (Image: Supplied) They are grateful to all the volunteers who helped, who include Aidan Canning, Gillian Clark, Kevin Clark, Lesley Clark, Graham Crawford, Lesley Dick, Tracey Howe, Bryan Lamb, Lorna Maclean, Erin Mceleny, Irene Mcintosh, Marjorie Morrison, Judy Ormond, Kirsty Ormond, Susanne Stetz. The organisers are looking for more volunteers, and anyone interested should email batteryparkjuniors@ for more information.
The Independent
18-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Dame Kelly Holmes on why summer is a great time to get fit and healthy, whatever your age
As the weather warms up and you can't hide under baggy jumpers any longer, now's the time to get fitter, healthier and leaner. And no matter what your fitness level, you may take inspiration from Olympic champion runner Dame Kelly Holmes, who still loves the challenge of keeping fit, despite retiring from the track many years ago. At the age of 55, Holmes still runs three times a week, as well as doing weight training, and she's urging others – whatever their age – to try to improve their fitness for the summer too. 'I keep fit for both my body to still do the things I want to do and for my mental health,' she says. 'I don't have an agenda with running as such – if I enter a half marathon, I'm doing it as a challenge to myself to keep moving. 'I don't want to not do it, I can't not do it – I have to do something,' she declares. 'I think it's a really positive thing for people to keep moving.' The former athlete, who won two gold medals in the 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Athens Olympics, is encouraging people of all ages to use any good summer weather as a motivation to up their fitness levels and generally look after themselves. She says: 'With the longer days, people are able to fit a lot more in, and good weather gives you that lifted spirit – you see more people walking, running, and cycling, and a lot of people, maybe like me, use that freedom of time to keep fitter. I think nice weather really helps – it just makes you feel good, doesn't it?' Holmes loves doing parkruns, and is an ambassador for nutritional supplements Solgar's partnership of The Great Run series, which includes last month's Great Manchester Run and the Great North Run in September. She was at the Manchester run, a 10k race and half marathon, which she was hoping to run in herself, but was unable to after straining her calf doing a parkrun. She says: 'I've done a lot of training from a very, very young age, and it's obviously going to have an impact on my body now, but equally with my age and being a woman, there's a lot of talk around the effects of menopause on your ligaments, tendons, etc, and that's what I'm finding at the moment. So it's about managing the body. 'It's important to me to lead by example, so I'll get injuries, but I'll always get them if I'm going to keep training, so I've got to manage them and limit them.' Despite her slight injury, Holmes still helped support some of the 35,000 runners in Manchester, and met Keely Hodgkinson and Ann Packer, who, with her, are the only British women to win 800m Olympic gold. She will also be at the Great North Run, and will share tips on training, race day preparation, and recovery. But she stresses that being fit and healthy isn't just about looking better and feeling physically fitter. 'Keeping moving and feeling good helps your self-esteem as well, and your confidence, general outlook on life and positivity,' she explains. 'And if all that starts going downhill, you don't feel you're healthy from body and mind and internally and externally, so all those things start to dwindle, which will obviously then affect your mental health. 'It's not just about the big win in the big race – it's also about the small everyday wins and those moments of self-care that keep us happy and healthy.' Holmes retired from competitive running 20 years ago, and she points out that her lifestyle these days is a long way from that of an elite athlete. 'I've been retired a long, long time,' she says. 'I'm definitely not in a 'normal' category, but my lifestyle is conducive to going out and enjoying myself and having meals etc. 'The fact is that if I want to keep strong, if I want to show up, if I still want to inspire people – I do – if I want to prove that it doesn't matter what age you are you can still push your body to a certain degree or achieve things, then I've got to start looking after myself.' As well as running and keeping fit generally, Holmes is careful with nutrition, saying: 'I've had a lifestyle where I'm in planes and trains and all over the world, and I grabbed something in the morning and went off for the day and I wasn't eating. And you forget that when you want to keep active, the priority for your body being strong and healthy is a combination of movement and what you put in your body.' She says supplements help get her nutritional balance right, and she also enjoys herbal drinks with ginger, lemon and mint. 'This year in particular I've definitely been more focused on looking at nutrition and trying to stop inflammation, because that's what I tend to get. I do think it's going to be an advantage to me to start thinking more about the health side of things, and holistically as well.' Holmes is keen to stress that no matter what your age, it's never too late to start looking after your body and getting fitter. 'I cannot tell you the amount of people that inspire me to keep going,' she says. 'Social media is a wonderful tool when it's used right, and I see 92-year-olds running fast 100 metres, or 60-year-old women doing 10 chin-ups. 'It's about people prioritising – looking at how they feel – are they energised? Are they lethargic? Are there things that can support that, like regular exercise, adequate sleep (I should listen to myself), doing things and entering something, and seeking support?' She adds: 'Our mind is stronger than we ever think it is, and we should give it credit and switch it to be on the positive side to get us through life. But equally, our body can do wonders – we just have to look after it a little bit more.'
Daily Mail
16-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Travellers pitch up illegal encampment with up to 30 caravans on huge field next to Surrey's million pound homes
Around 30 caravans were set up in an illegal encampment next to Surrey's multi-million pound homes over the weekend. The group gained access to the grounds of Stoke Park, Guildford, after a groundsman reportedly left the access gate open. Their presence sparked fury among local residents after various scheduled events were forced to cancel over the weekend, including the local parkrun. Guildford parkrun organisers said they could 'not safely hold the event' due to the risk of moving vehicles. They told runners: 'We are sorry to say that Guildford parkrun is cancelled this Saturday 14th June due to an unauthorised encampment in the park, as we cannot safely hold the event if there is a risk of vehicle movements. 'We are taking the decision now on the advice of the council, as it is expected that the encampment will not have moved on by the weekend. This is to give you a chance to make other plans.' Another junior run was forced to cancel their event, to the disappointment of local residents. Posted on a community Facebook page, one resident said the travellers had made the park a 'nightmare' and warned visitors to 'be on your guard'. He wrote: 'Some of the travellers in Stoke Park are a nightmare; a few teens from the camp are roaming the grounds robbing people, and older ones are driving around the field at speed. Some are even leaving human faeces under the trees. 'This evening a group of them came into the skatepark, causing grief, then they stole a bike. The police never get involved, and the skaters will only take so much before it gets nasty; And when that happens the older travelers might kick off! 'If [you're] thinking of visiting Stoke Park, be on your guard.' MailOnline has not been able to independently verify the claims. Surrey Police were contacted for comment. Guildford Borough Council said: 'There was a recent unauthorised encampment in Stoke Park, but this has now moved on.' It is believed the group were out of the area by Sunday. Over the past two months, many groups of travellers have been seizing secluded plots of countryside to turn them into vast caravan parks. It has affected villages and towns in Buckinghamshire, West Sussex, Nottinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Gloucester, Devon, Worcestershire, Cheshire and in Hampshire's New Forest, MailOnline has found. And a new map lays bare the scale of the situation. Furious MPs have lambasted the travellers' tactics, which they say makes a 'mockery' of the building development rules millions of law-abiding Britons are forced to abide by. However, those breaching the rules have insisted they are doing it because of the nationwide glut of official sites, and the 'stigma' nomadic residents in the traveller and gypsy communities face staying at the road side. In the space of a few weeks, at least nine 'illegal' sites have appeared across the UK - all seemingly using a 'carbon copy' modus operandi. It's seen those behind the builds carrying out 'military-style' operations to rapidly construct new traveller developments before officials can stop them, transforming rural plots of field and grassland into sprawling, concreted caravan parks.
The Guardian
31-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
World's fastest 75-year-old woman: 'Never think that you're too old'
Sarah Roberts is the fastest over-75 woman in history over 800m, 1500m and 3,000m. She started running aged 67 when she was introduced to parkrun while on holiday with her husband in Cape Town in 2017. She now hold a series of world records.
The Guardian
31-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘Never think you're too old': Meet the world's fastest 75-year-old woman
Along a sun-dappled canal towpath in picturesque Hertfordshire countryside, a grey-brown bob rises and falls with the effortless bounce of a lithe, spectacled figure gliding her way past dog-walkers and afternoon ramblers. There is a watch – one of those smart-technology devices capable of producing all sorts of unnecessary metrics – on Sarah Roberts's wrist, but she has forgotten to switch it on. Roberts, a grandmother of five, tends not to take note of such things. When she does go for a run – an occurrence of surprising infrequency – she prefers to be guided by feel; distances and times forgotten upon return to her front door. The fastest 75-year-old woman in history – a multiple world champion and world-record holder – possesses no training logbook, no coach and, most intriguingly, almost zero running pedigree for most of her life. Asked by the hastily stretching Guardian journalist – foolishly attempting to keep pace for a few miles – how she is capable of launching straight into a run without any semblance of a warm-up, she reveals she only stretches before races 'so that I don't look unprofessional'. Her Great Britain Masters singlet reveals taut muscles and supple limbs that would never have been employed for their current purpose were it not for a holiday to South Africa eight years ago. Trips there had been a frequent occurrence long before a Cape Town-based friend asked whether Roberts and her husband George would like to join their regular Saturday morning parkrun – the wonderful innovation that welcomes all comers to undertake 5km at whatever pace they choose. Sheltered under trees at the foot of Table Mountain, they savoured this one at no more than a pleasurable amble. The following week they went again, only this time Roberts ran small segments. On their return to their Hertfordshire home, the couple decided to sign up to their local parkrun. For three years, almost every Saturday morning involved a 5km run, with Roberts converting from running novice to regular attendee, whittling her time down from just shy of 30 minutes to less than 23. Just a few weeks off her 70th birthday, she then took a plunge by joining her local athletics club, Dacorum, and signing up for an 800m race at the end of the summer. 'I was discovering I was really quite good,' she explains after our canal run, while sitting in front of an antique mantel clock in a living room adorned with furnishings from decades gone by. 'That made me think I ought to see whether I could do other things, so I put myself in for an 800. I'd never even been on a track before. The gun went and all I knew is I had to go round twice. 'The only other people in the race were either under-17 or under-15, and then there was me, almost 70. These girls just shot off in the distance looking like gazelles and I ran round. I was way last and didn't know what time I'd done, but someone told me it was rather good for my age.' The Covid pandemic dashed almost all running opportunities over the next two years, aside from irregular parkruns when permitted. So, it was not until early 2022 that she was able to contest another 800m, unexpectedly taking the scalp of a multiple global age-group champion in the process. 'Nobody had heard of me or expected me to do anything,' says Roberts. By 2023, she was a double British champion in the 70-74 age group. The following year she won three world titles over 800m, 1500m and 5,000m, before adding four more indoor golds this March. 800m outdoor: 2min 58.12sec800m indoor: 2.57.321,500m outdoor: 6.06.201,500m indoor: 5.58.15Mile outdoor: 6.40.323,000m indoor: 12.28.825,000m outdoor: 22.40.155km road: 21.3310,000m outdoor: 45.59.8110km road: 44.33 Since her birthday last October, she has swept the board of 75+ world records over every track distance from 800m to 10,000m indoors and outdoors, as well as 5km and 10km on the road. Last weekend, she added mile and 10,000m world records to her bulging haul despite less than 90 minutes between races. It is a staggering array of accolades for someone whose running experience never previously extended beyond chasing primary school friends around the playground. Upstairs in their smart detached home, off a hallway lined with photos of their children and grandchildren, sits a room that used to function as an office but is now primarily occupied with Roberts' late-blooming running career. Surrounded by cardboard boxes marked with such mundanities as 'sewing', 'Scrabble' and 'wrapping paper' lie an assortment of athletics paraphernalia, from certificates to printed race results, and photo albums to a frankly overwhelming number of medals. How much does running now occupy Roberts' life, I wonder? 'Only 95%,' says George, joking, who happily travels around the country and abroad to watch his wife of almost 54 years race. By this point, there is an obvious question that needs answering. How on earth does a woman who had never run until she was 67 become the fastest of all time? Despite not taking part in any organised sport beyond the briefest of social netball stints many decades ago, Roberts has always been a keen gym goer. Initially just the odd circuit class here and there during her days working as a solicitor and raising two children; latterly, post-retirement, every day and all conceivable options, from boxing to Zumba, and yoga to legs, bums and tums. A few years ago, when her gym held a contest to see who could hold the longest plank, Roberts, then just shy of her 70th birthday, tapped out victorious after 10 minutes and 15 seconds. Only boredom, and a lack of genuine challengers, made her stop. Recently, while hoovering up world titles in Florida, she was approached by researchers who asked to conduct some tests on her. They found her resting heart rate drops as low as 38 beats per minute and her VO2 max, which measures the body's ability to use oxygen during exercise, is 54 – both comparable to an elite athlete generations younger. She awaits full MRI results, but the radiographer who conducted the scans was instantly stunned by the lack of fat running through her legs. 'I feel fitter than I've ever felt before, which is fantastic,' she says. 'You don't expect to feel that when you're 75.' Her formal running training remains minimal. Other than a track session on Mondays and intervals on Tuesdays, her only other regular outing is the trusty Saturday morning parkrun. The remainder of her fitness is cultivated through those daily gym visits. Remarkably, given her advancing years, she is only getting quicker, so far improving her best times every summer since starting to compete. 'Whatever I'm doing seems to be working,' she says, smiling. Having braved that initial 800m race at an age when most would never consider it, she hopes her story may inspire others. What unknown talents lie dormant, just waiting for a chance to emerge? 'I'd like people to think that they should always try something,' she says. 'You never know what you can do until you try it. Never think you're too old. Give it a go. You will surprise yourself at what you can do if you really try to do something.' Earlier, as we left the towpath and wound our way through the village towards home – one of us sweating considerably more than the other twice his age – two scenarios sprang to mind. One was the thought of what she might achieve with the aid of a properly conceived full-time running regime – a suggestion that Roberts gives short shrift, fully content as she is, with sufficient honours to validate her current approach. The other was what might have been. Given her apparent physiological advantages – and notwithstanding the paucity of middle and long-distance events open to women until the latter decades of the 20th century – does she wonder what she could have accomplished if made aware of her running prowess at a younger age? 'No, I don't,' she says. 'I'm just very grateful that I've discovered it now. I've had a good life and enjoyed whatever I've done in the past. I don't go into what-ifs because all the other factors would have been different anyway. But I'm very happy for the current situation. 'I'm just amazed really. I could always run for a bus, but I never thought I would ever be anywhere near the best in the world. It never would have crossed my mind.'
