Letter of the Week
THIRTEEN years ago I sat on the couch watching the London marathon.
I was overweight, working too hard, and eating badly.
I decided that I would do the London Marathon the following year, and I did.
Since then I have run more than 50 marathons and personally raised over £300,000 for charities.
In addition, I have motivated and encouraged more than 20 people to do marathons, all of whom have better lives for it.
There is simply nothing wrong in running – it is a personal thing that is a way of improving your life, mental attitude and personal fitness.
I am one of the volunteers of the Southport parkrun, I give my time freely every Saturday morning, as do many others, to encourage people to run 5km, even if they have never run before.
People can walk, run, or a mixture of both. All welcome.
The parkrun is the most amazing thing, we see people week after week who run for the first time or, perhaps, people who are walking for the first time but will later run.
They are all making the effort to change their lives and get fit.
This last week we had a blind runner who ran her sixth personal-best time in six weeks, she could not do it if it were not for the parkrun guide runners who accompany her.
There is nothing bad about parkrun, it is free to all and allows everybody to get out there and do something positive with their lives.
Each week we have upwards of 20 people who are running for the first time, they are all made welcome. I would say to anybody who is reading this, if you have not done a parkrun then please do so, even if you have never run before it will change your life, www.parkrun. org.
All runners (and walkers) who come for the first time are made so welcome and encouraged.
I don’t normally write to newspapers, in fact I don’t think I ever have previously, I have more going on in my life to be honest than to moan about things.
So when I saw the letter last week I was so incensed, I couldn’t believe that people could actually moan about something so positive.
It says more about the letter writer than the parkrun to be honest.
All of the runners in parkrun consider other park users, and the marshals are nothing but courteous, to suggest otherwise is disgraceful, the writer should lament their comments at their leisure.
If you have nothing positive to say please say nothing at all.
Life is short... embrace it, make the most of it and do positive things, if you are moaning about something as positive as parkrun then shame on you. Total shame on you.
At the end of the day parkrun changes people’s lives, and only occupies Hesketh Park for one hour on a Saturday morning. The park is for all. Adrian Shandley
via email The writer of the Letter of the Week wins a box of cakes from Lilibets of Paris, Southport. To collect your prize take in a copy of your letter together with photo ID to the shop at 24 Stanley Street during opening hours. For times go to www.lilibetsofparis.com