Marching on John beats own ‘Captain Tom’ walking goal
»Lockdown inspires grandad John to keep moving
THEY say age is just a number and that is certainly the case for one Gloucestershire ex-army officer. John Cork, 85, has lived in Bourtonon-the-water since 1977 and has a lifetime of fitness training experience, including a long career in the Army, Royal British Legion and Army Cadets.
However, at the start of lockdown, John received inspiration from a face we’ve all come to know and love – Captain Tom.
The grandfather of six, born in Palestine, said that he saw the 100-year-old doing his walking challenge and thought, “That’s a good idea” – even though he’s had two knee replacements.
He said: “I saw that programme with Captain Tom, so I just started walking and keeping a record of it. I have tin knees though so instead of 100 laps I’d do 80 consecutive days and just keep moving. I started right on the first day of lockdown and didn’t stop.”
John started off with two sessions a day. However, due to his knees, in recent times he’s lessened this. But as he says: “It’s not about the distance or time.”
Although the original goal was 80 days, John said that when he finished that, he thought, “Well, what do I do now?” and just carried on – and is now on an incredible 120 days.
“I’m just trying to get people to get off their butts and go for a walk,” he said. “I always say, if you do it you can talk about it, if you never do it you can never talk about it.”
The charismatic ex-army personal trainer said that physical exercise has been a huge part of his life, and that he is very passionate about it.
He is proudly taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh award challenge for the over-50s, which he believes many more older people should get involved in.
He said: “I was a PT trainer in the Army at one time, I was in the PT corps – we keep ‘em fit and get them fit and refit them, that’s what we’d say.
“I love a challenge.”
John, who has been married for 52 years, achieved his 30-year Poppy Appeal collector medal from the Royal British Legion, where he also spent 10 years as the chairman for the Bourtonon-the-water branch.
He was also given a Dual Award and gold badge for his service, and has spent time in the Army Cadets as the Gloucestershire outdoor and education officer.
Dad of three John credits his wealth of expertise to his time in the forces.
He said: “I got a lot out of the Army, and I was able to give it back, I’m really glad because I was able to give it back to it.”
John is very proud of his time deployed in Singapore in the late 1960s, where he played an integral role in introducing canoeing to the country.
He said: “Singapore is surrounded by water and when I stopped athletics I got really into canoeing and ended up becoming a coach.
“They didn’t know anything about canoeing there and they asked me to run a couple of courses. My Colonel said, ‘Yeah, you can go and do it,’ so I started running local courses.
“Then it hit me in 1969 I was going to leave in 1971, so I got everyone organised and started the Singapore Canoeing Foundation.
“I’m really happy with that because since then they’ve really grown and had people go to the Olympics, but I was the founder.
“I was able to visit again a few years ago for the first time since I left, it was one of the highlights of my life I think, introducing a sport to a nation.
“They gave me a nice plaque saying thank you for making our Singapore Canoe Federation.”
John’s granddaughter Charlie Griffin, who has followed in his footsteps and launched her own personal training business, said: “My grandad, or Ganggang to me, has been my inspiration all my life.”
She added: “I believe that at any age you can keep fit, and my grandad is doing just that still.”