Roodepoort parkrunner Stephen Lane recently completed an impressive milestone of 500 parkruns, but for the 78-year-old, the weekly event is about much more than running.

Lane completed his first parkrun at Roodepoort in September 2014, after his daughter, who had already participated in several events, encouraged him to give it a try.

What immediately caught his attention was the sense of community.

“When I did my first parkrun, it was amazing to see all the families doing it. Grandpa, grandma, mom, dad, children, wheelchairs and dogs altogether. I thought, this is for me,” he said.

Since then, parkrun has become a regular part of Lane’s Saturday mornings, allowing him to stay active while building lasting friendships.

“I enjoy going every Saturday to see my friends and meet new people,” he said.

Although he completed his 500 runs on August 1, Lane said he could have completed it a long time ago.

“I used to run for Florida Running Club and did a lot of 10km and 21km registered runs on Saturday and missed parkun,” he said.

Lane has also made a significant contribution on the other side of the event, having volunteered 143 times, with his running achievements extending beyond South Africa.

His personal best parkrun time is 29:03, recorded at Rushcliffe parkrun in England. He has also completed several South African parkruns in under 30 minutes, although he says those days are now behind him.

“In my late 60s and early 70s, I could do under 30 minutes. Now I am happy with 35 or 36 minutes,” he said.

With his 500th parkrun now behind him, Lane has set his sights on another major milestone: Volunteering 250 times.

He said reaching 500 runs has also given him greater freedom when volunteering, as he no longer needs to worry about maintaining his run total.

Lane is particularly passionate about encouraging more people to volunteer, stressing that parkrun depends on people willing to give up their Saturday mornings.

“Volunteers do not receive any benefits from parkrun South Africa and give up their time freely on Saturday morning. I would recommend people to become volunteers as without volunteers there will be no parkrun,” he said.

He also believes anyone who has never participated should give parkrun a chance.

“I would recommend people try at least one parkrun. Once they see how the families enjoy themselves and how friendly everybody is, they will be hooked.

“Our parkruns are between 400 and 500 people. The first person does it in 18 minutes and the last person in about 1hour 15 minutes. Two of the volunteers called tail walkers stay behind the last person. The other volunteers include timekeepers, position keepers and scanners, who will only pack up once the tail walker gets there, so no matter how slow you are, you will get an official finish. There is no cut-off time,” he said, encouraging other runners.

For Lane, that inclusive spirit is what has kept him coming back for almost 12 years.

“I still enjoy parkrun, and as long as my body can handle it, I will do it. Hopefully far into my 80s,” he said.