A south London runner who has clocked up 1,000 parkruns says the weekly event “saved [his] life” when he was struggling with his mental health.
Darren Wood, 43, from Carshalton, reached the milestone on Saturday at Morden in south London. His fellow Sutton Runners gave him a guard of honour as he approached the finish line, surrounded by friends and family.
Wood was presented with a yellow 1,000 parkrun T-shirt, a cape and a crown as he was dubbed “the king of parkrun”.
He first took part in October 2004 and has regularly participated in the free weekly event ever since.
Wood said he had been struggling with his mental health over debts and the break-up of his marriage. But when he went to parkrun, “everything felt normal”.
“I wasn’t judged anymore, I could just be me and I could talk to people and explain how I was feeling,” he said.
Wood is 36 parkruns ahead of his closest rival. He said the attention around becoming the first to 1,000 has been “a little bit overwhelming” but added it was “just a nice celebration”.
“Parkrun is inclusive for everyone,” he said.
“Everyone is welcome and it will change and save lives if we can get more and more people involved.
“Because parkrun has changed and saved my life and it will do that for others, I would almost guarantee that.”
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