‘Never too late to start running’ says 75 year-old-parkrunner
“After a couple of runs it becomes a routine and when you realise the benefits of running it becomes rewarding."
Achieving that sometimes elusive PB is a common goal for parkrunners, and one that keeps them coming back for more.
Peter Michel recently achieved his 100th Roodepoort parkrun on Saturday, April 23 at event number 441.
According to Peter he first participated in the Roodepoort parkrun at the age of 71 after starting to walk his dog as a means of exercise. He soon found jogging more rewarding.
“My first parkrun was in May 2018 and this was in fact my first Roodepoort parkrun. I am actually not from Roodepoort but Centurion, and I did the Roodepoort parkrun as part of another target namely to run as many different parkruns as possible,” said Peter.
A 100th parkrun is a huge milestone, and when the Record asked Peter to share how he remained committed and kept going, he did not hesitate to remind the community that you are never too old to start running.
According to the 75-year-old father of four sons, it is much easier to start and keep it up if you have a running partner, while setting yourself realistic targets and measuring your performance only against yourself.
His advice for those who want to start running is to keep track of their results to ensure that they benefit from the run, and never to run with an injury or flu symptoms.
“After a couple of runs it becomes a routine and when you realise the benefits of running it becomes rewarding. Once I got into the habit, it was easy to keep it up; in fact, I did 52 consecutive parkruns in 2019. It is a nice and beneficial pastime to which you almost become addicted, something I realised through missing parkrun acutely when it was banned during lockdown,” said Peter.
Peter admitted that what he enjoyed most about the Roodepoort parkrun is the fair challenge and well-organised event with friendly and supportive people.
“Obviously, I will remember it for the fact that I did my 100th parkrun here,” said Peter.
Peter who grew up in the Karoo is married, and has four sons and four grandchildren. His hobbies – besides running – are breeding Pyrenean Mountain Dogs, reading as well as solving brainteasers.
He is not a member of any running club but regards the Midstream parkrun as his home parkrun.
He was introduced to parkruns by his son Karl-Heinz Michel who has 140 parkruns under his belt and is still going strong.
