Yahoo Finance The return of parkrun was especially significant for Bob Emmerson as he became the oldest person to complete 400 events! Congrats Bob.
As parkrun returned across England on Saturday, one runner stuck out for his dedication to the weekly 5k runs.
Bob Emmerson became the oldest person to complete 400 parkruns at the weekend’s event in Northampton. Although he has had two hip replacements since he was seventy, Bob has still managed to run more than one hundred marathons and ultra marathons, including completing the London Marathon 17 times, since he took up running at the age of 49, according to the Northampton Chronicle.
Bob told the newspaper: ‘I just can't stop. It can give you such a good feeling and sets you up for the day.
‘People say they can't run. Well, I say you can. You just run a bit, then walk for a bit when you get tired, then run for a bit. Then one day you can run the whole thing in one go.’
88-year-old Bob told BBC News he would have been on 470 by now if it hadn’t been for the pandemic, adding that he intended to get to 500 – although he will likely be 90 years old by then.
‘I hope to continue running 21 miles a week, 1,000 miles a year, as my total is now about 115,000 miles,’ he said. But he admitted that he didn’t know what his finish time was, as that was something he ‘didn’t really worry about’.
His wife Thelma said she had faith in her husband: ‘I knew he would do it, as he said he would do it. I'm so proud of him, for all the races he's run in and for all the ones he's won.’
In a video posted on Facebook by Northampton parkrun, which appears to be part of a BBC News segment, Bob said: ‘I’ve been a runner nearly all my life, but parkrun got me back into running about nine years ago. I’ve met a lot of people and it’s been one of the things that has kept me going.
‘parkrun, it’s not a race, it’s a get together. It’s a social event… I’ve made more acquaintances doing parkrun than I ever did when I was a serious runner.’
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