Words: Vickie Jamieson
Photos: Simon Cullingworth
Arthur Wood completed his 400th parkrun on Saturday (12 April) at Bramley Park.
He was joined by over 200 fellow participants and volunteers who helped to cheer and clap him over the finish line.
Arthur, who is 75, only took up running in his 40s but has always been a sports enthusiast.
He ran with the Pudsey Pacers running club until recently and whilst there was in charge of the beginners running group, helping to train and motivate new club members, and those who had recently taken up the hobby to help them gain strength and confidence in their running.
Jill Jarvis, who was there to help celebrate with Arthur, said that it was only with Arthur’s continued help and encouragement that she was able to improve her pace and distance and really start to enjoy running.
Arthur’s family are also parkrun enthusiasts with his children, their partners, and his grandchildren all involved in running and parkrun – it’s a real family affair.
Arthur first took part in parkrun in 2012 beginning his parkrun journey at Lister Park in Bradford, but it’s Bramley parkrun that means a lot to Arthur.
Bramley is Arthur’s local event and where many of his family run, but it is also where, in September 2016 that Arthur had a cardiac arrest while participating in parkrun.
Arthur had just taken the bend at the bottom of the “upward flat” with his seven-year-old grandson’s hand in his when he suffered a cardiac arrest. He hit the floor, smashing his teeth on the path and covering him in blood.
By chance running close to him was a fellow Pudsey Pacer and retired paramedic, who stepped straight in and used the defibrillator which had only been donated to Bramley parkrun two weeks prior and managed to get Arthur’s heart beating again.
Astonishingly within a month Arthur was back at Bramley parkrun, walking not running, as part of his rehabilitation and recovery.
And Arthur has been back many times since, often making Bramley parkrun the site for his many fund-raising activities on behalf of the British Heart Foundation, helping to raise much needed money to help fund research into cures and treatments for heart, cardiovascular and circulatory diseases.
Arthur said that Bramley parkrun means everything to him, and with his friends and family around him, helping to celebrate his 400th parkrun milestone you can see it means at lot to them too, as does he.
- More details on how to get involved with Bramley parkrun can be found here.
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