Stroke of fortune
Paralympic medalist Brett Wild was at Plean parkrun on Saturday.
The 25 year-old said: “This was the first time I have done a parkrun and I will definitely be back.
“I used to do cross-country and road racing as a kid and for me Plean parkun is one of the most beautiful runs I have ever done.
“There is so much variety: hills, off-road, flat. It is amazing.”
Brett, who has family ties to Fintry, became involved with #teamparkrun, where National Lottery-funded athletes join in local events. He is the ski-guide for Millie Knight, who can only see three metres ahead; Brett guides her via a Bluetooth headset.
The duo won silver medals in downhill and super-G as well as a bronze medal in the slalom at the PyeongChang games in February.
Plean parkrun director Jackie Stewart said: “There was a real air of excitement in the park when he spoke to our parkrunners and showed them the medals he won at the winter games.
“Having somebody like Brett come to our parkrun shows everybody that sport is for all, no matter your ability or disability.”
Plean parkrun meets on Saturdays at 9.20am at the former house in Plean Country Park. Stirling University student Perri McCluskey has made the jump from beginner to Scotland international in just over a year.
Perri (19) only started rowing by chance.
A runner since the age of eight, she was looking for a different sport to try when she went to university.
“I had no intentions of taking up rowing but a friend asked me to go along with her and I ended up joining the club,” she said.
She joined British Rowing’s World Class Start programme and her improvement has been little short of astonishing.
In June’s Scottish Championships she won the open doubles with former McLaren High pupil Sophie Parsons and finished fourth in the singles.
She was selected to race for Scotland at the Home Internationals in Cork, where she competed in the doubles with GB under-23 international Fiona Bell.
“I learned a lot from training and racing with Fiona,” said Perri.
Tom Young from World Class Start said: “This is a unique opportunity of giving young athletes the chance to try out something new that they could find they’re exceptional at.
“This programme has been proven to take athletes from other sports from their first day in a boat all the way through to the senior Olympic squads.”
For more information on the scheme contact Tom. Young@britishrowing.org.