STV reporter Gordon Chree closing in on 69 consecutive Vitality parkruns in Scotland after number 66 at Elgin
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RUNNING man Gordon Chree is just 15km away from achieving a remarkable 69 consecutive parkrun events in Scotland.
He completed number 66 at Elgin parkrun on Saturday, March 16.
"Two years ago I had never run at all and the thing I did for fitness was cycling," he said.
"My son and daughter started doing our local junior parkrun and my wife and I volunteer at that.
"My son, who was 10 at the time, said he wanted to do some 5ks and I said 'I will need to do them with you', so I did the Couch to 5k app.
"The first couple of weeks were hell but it got easier week by week."
Gordon (45), from North Berwick, got the running bug after taking part in his first ever (Vitality) parkrun on December 31, 2022 at Cramond in Edinburgh.
"I took it easy and finished it. The day after doing that I was speaking to someone who was starting a new one at Auldcathie Park at Winchburgh (near Edinburgh) and they said I should come along.
"It was a harder course but I was quicker than the week before and it was quite addictive.
"I then thought 'how many are there in Scotland?' and at that point there were 67.
"It turned out about 60 people had done them all but no-one had done them all one after the other.
"Since then every Saturday, plus Christmas Day and New Year's Day I have been to a different one around Scotland."
He has Erskine, Troon and Meadowmill to go to complete an amazing haul of parkruns.
"I chose Meadowmill as the last one as at the time when I started it was the nearest one to where I live, although subsequently two more have started, one at Whitekirk Hill in North Berwick, about five minutes from my house and Carlingwark Loch in Castle Douglas.
"My son, who is nearly 12, has now done about 40 of them with me, my wife has done about 37 and my daughter, who is nine, has done about 35 of them, so there have been a lot of family trips, it has been great."
Gordon, a senior reporter and presenter with STV in Edinburgh for 17 years, said Elgin was one of the friendliest he has been to.
More than 200 runners took part in Saturday's Elgin event, taking advantage of the sunny weather and mild conditions.
