He has set a personal best of 46 minutes and finished first in his age group.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such an easy thing to do. It\u2019s at 8am, you\u2019re finished by 9am and then the rest of the day\u2019s free.\u201d<\/p>\n
Already an avid cyclist and keen walker, Ingram said he was looking for something regular to help maintain his fitness. <\/p>\n
He said it wasn\u2019t long before the exercise became only a small part of the appeal. <\/p>\n
Participants gather at a cafe in the Historic Village after each event, and there strangers quickly became familiar faces. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just sat down with a table of people, and they said, \u2018Who are you?\u2019 and welcomed me in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were telling me they\u2019d done 250 or 300 parkruns and that I\u2019d only need another 45 before earning my first milestone T-shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Ingram, 88, takes part in the weekly 5km parkrun. Photo \/ Chris Ingram<\/p>\n
Every participant receives a personal barcode at the event, allowing them to track their results online.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get this wonderful feedback, but also this real sense of community. It\u2019s quite unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ingram hoped his story encourages others to keep moving, no matter their age. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were growing up, people over 65 were expected to slow down. The new normal is staying fit into your 70s and 80s. <\/p>\n
\u201cI like to be a mentor. The secret to a good life is healthy eating, friendships and regular exercise, and this ticks a few boxes.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tauranga parkrun co-event director Jez Rogers said stories like Ingram\u2019s capture exactly what the event is designed to achieve. <\/p>\n
The volunteer-run event launched in Tauranga in 2018 and welcomes everyone, regardless of age, fitness level or pace.<\/p>\n
It is part of a global movement that began more than 20 years ago in London\u2019s Bushy Park, where injured runner Paul Sinton-Hewitt organised a 5km time trial and only 18 people showed up.<\/p>\n
Millions of people have since taken part in parkrun events across more than 20 countries.<\/p>\n
The Tauranga event regularly attracts about 200 participants each Saturday, and is one of more than 70 parkruns held across New Zealand. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest myth about parkrun is that it\u2019s a run,\u201d Rogers said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to run. We\u2019re just as happy to have people walking.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said participants range from young children to people in their 80s, with walkers, runners, parents pushing prams and dog owners all taking part.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about getting people moving, whatever that looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ingram makes his way along the Tauranga parkrun route. Photo \/ Chris Ingram<\/p>\n
About 10 volunteers help each week, marshalling the course, scanning barcodes and ensuring the route is safe before participants set off.<\/p>\n
Rogers said the average finishing time had become slower over the years, which organisers saw as a success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows that more people who ordinarily wouldn\u2019t do that sort of thing are showing up every week to have a go.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the welcoming atmosphere was as important as the exercise itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one thing that really impresses me is that no one ever gets judged. They\u2019ll get applause as they come across the finish line.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should see the smiles on some of their faces.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that sense of belonging was what kept people returning week after week. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about the community, showing up and getting out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He has set a personal best of 46 minutes and finished first in his age group. \u201cIt\u2019s such…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":966605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[38],"tags":[388294,931,1238,1198,18949,210,237864,388293,90351,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-966604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-88yearold","tag-and","tag-find","tag-fitness","tag-friendship","tag-health","tag-helps","tag-parkrun","tag-tauranga","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117002876476990397","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=966604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/966605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=966604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=966604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=966604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}