Pounding park to win running battle

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An inspirational dad who was unable to jog more than 10 yards at Christmas has lost a staggering eight stone after only joining the Ashford parkrun in April.

Warehouse manager Mark Boorer, 41, weighed a hefty 22 stone in December but signed up to the group at Victoria Park in an attempt to shed some pounds.

He now tips the scales at only 13-and-a-half stone and plans to take on a half-marathon next year after setting a personal best time on the Ashford 10k earlier this month.

Mr Boorer said: “At Christmas I had probably reached my highest weight and my asthma was so bad I was relying on my inhaler too much so I finally decided to do something about it.

“It would be another three months until I managed to do my first parkrun as I was feeling uncomfortable running with others, but I immediately felt comfortable when I joined.

“I would have never got anywhere near where I am now without parkrun – I don’t eat as much rubbish now, but, mainly, it is down to the parkrun.”

The Ashford parkrun group meets every Saturday in the park off Jemmett Road with joggers completing a free 5k run against the clock.

Mr Boorer, of Brookfield Road, says being unable to keep up with his eight-year-old son, Thomas, inspired him to start running.

“When you can’t run more than 10 yards without needing your asthma pump, it isn’t much fun when your boy wants to play football or go for a run in the park,” he added.

“I could have never jogged for five minutes at Christmas, but now I can actually keep up with Thomas – he and my partner Stacey are my inspiration.

“I want to push myself now and see what I am capable of. Obviously my body will change over time, but I don’t think there is much more weight to lose and I want to push on from now.”

Mr Boorer, who works in Dover and moved to Ashford in 2008, is already looking out for half-marathons to enter next year and is also keen to try triathlons.

“I have got the weight off and don’t want to stop running,” he said.

“It is still baby steps and my asthma is something I have to seriously keep an eye on, but I’m getting there and I really feel that this wouldn’t have been possible without parkrun.

“I am grateful to the people who run it and the sky is the limit now.”

To find out more about the Ashford parkrun, visit www. parkrun.org.uk/ashford 71 iPads Eight bowling balls 88 basketballs

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Mark Boorer on his first park run in April and the start of the Givaudan 10k race

Mark’s ‘inspirations’ are his son Thomas and partner Stacey