Ten parkruns down, 40 to go

A keen athlete, Simon Edwards used to be at the gym playing indoor football.

‘‘I spent half my week down there.’’ But when his knees started to go he was told by his surgeon ‘‘no more football’’.

Fast forward a few years and with his football days behind him, Edwards picked up running instead.

If you’re one of the couple of hundred people from the Hutt who take part in the parkrun starting from the Riverside carpark on your Saturday mornings, you might have passed Edwards.

‘‘It was actually through The Hutt News that I learned about parkrun,’’ he said. A story on the idea piqued his interest. ’’So I had a go at it.’’

His first parkrun was a couple of years ago. He let it lie for a bit but decided late last year to give it another shot. So far he’s completed 10 parkruns and aims to do 50 by this time next year.

One of the main things he liked about the run was he could do it as fast or as slow as he liked. ’’It’s not one of those races where you’re busting your gut to see if you can beat these people around you.’’

Parkruns are held around the world from Poland to Russia to Africa. When you sign up you’re given a barcode which you swipe through when you finish your run and your times are recorded alongside other runners worldwide.

Edwards’ first few runs fell

finds a global fitness trend has become part of one councillor’s regular routine. ‘‘It’s not one of those races where you’re busting your gut to see if you can beat people around you.’’

around the 27-minute mark but he said his personal best was 25 minutes, 38 seconds. ’’I’m really getting into it now.’’

He occasionally found himself being passed by people a few years older than him or the odd parent pushing a pram but all up, he loved the relaxed, family vibe.

Most Saturdays he found himself falling in with the same group of runners and said that’s where his competitive spirit often came out.

‘‘I think to myself, ‘right, this guy beat me last week so let’s go’.’’