ON Saturday May 30, 2015 Russell Thornton set off on his first Taree parkrun.
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He walked the 5km route along the Manning foreshore, clocking 46 minutes 52.
Russell didn’t realise it at the time, but parkrun was to change his life. He was back the following Saturday for his second run. On and on it’s gone since and tomorrow he registers run number 100. He’s the first Taree parkrunner to reach the century mark.
Russell is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.
This will be the second Taree milestone Russell has achieved. Last July he was first to 50 runs.
Russell will wear his trademark flouro orange shirt tomorrow, hoping not too much of a fuss is made of his achievement. He wasn’t that keen on being the centre of attention when he made it to 50.
“It’s no different to any other Saturday,’’ he told the Times just before his 50th run.
But parkrun people think otherwise.
“Russell’s hardly missed a day since his first run,’’ Taree parkrun convener Margie Lewis said.
“In fact, the only time he doesn’t run is when he’s volunteering.’’
Russell, 55, sustained a brain injury after he was hit by a car when he was eight. He’s pretty well kept to himself since until he started parkrun after being talked into it by his brother, Phil, a parkrun regular.
Margie said Russell has reconnected with the community through parkrun. He’s now more confident being around people as a result of mixing with the 100 or so runners who usually take part in parkrun each Saturday.
“Russell entered the Forster Running Festival last year and I understand he’s going in it again next September – that’s all through parkrun,’’ Margie explained.
“We’ve found out other things about him – he’s a bit of an artist and some of his work was displayed in an exhibit last October.’’
These days he runs the 5kms and his PB is 33.49 and his best finish is 17th.
“He’s competitve,’’ Margie said.
“And his fitness has certainly improved.’’
Parkrun works because of volunteers and Russell’s been happy to do his share. He’s volunteered on five occasions where he’s usually among the first to arrive to help set up the course and the last to leave when everything is packed away.
There’ll be a presentation before the run starts at the usual time of 8am tomorrow, although Russell will be happy when that’s over. He goes to parkrun to run and not be the star of the show.
With run number 100 out of the way tomorrow, he can concentrate on getting to 200.