George Allen reached the impressive milestone earlier this month.
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Owen Sinclair
One of Cobram’s own athletes has reached an impressive milestone in the world of park running.
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George Allen celebrated his 200th parkrun on Saturday, May 17, at the Cobram parkrun at Thompsons Beach.
“My first official parkrun was near my parents’ place in Cottesloe in Western Australia,” he later told The Courier.
“A couple of friends got me into it.”
Maintaining a blistering pace of 19.15 minutes, George claimed his 200th in style, taking home first place out of a pool of 67 runners.
“The thing I enjoy the most [about the Cobram course] is having the water alongside pretty much the whole way, and then being able to have a swim in the river afterwards — when the weather’s warm enough,” he said.
George in action during his 200th parkrun. Photo: Tyson Flynn (Cobram parkrun)
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Contributed
Having completed his 200 parkruns in destinations around the globe, including in New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom, one might say George is a well-travelled park-runner.
While Cobram holds a special place in his heart, George’s favourite destination for a parkrun so far was at Port Lincoln, in South Australia.
“It was a coastal run, as the sun was rising, as I did on my way driving across from Perth to move over here in early 2021. I thought that was beautiful,” he said.
The path to his park-running achievement has also been paved with many moments George won’t soon forget.
One of those arrived when he found himself short of clean clothes to wear while staying in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan one year.
It was the depths of the boreal winter, and George came to appreciate the full meaning of ‘cold’.
“It was memorable because I was the only person in shorts, running a parkrun, in -30°C, around a lake filled with Canadian geese,” he said.
“And worrying about slipping over or getting frostbite the entire time.”
After returning home, with the benefit of having all fingers and toes still attached, George is looking forward to completing many more parkruns and volunteering in Cobram.
So far, in Cobram he has completed about 85 parkruns and volunteered on at least 40 separate occasions.
“I think what I really want to do this year is get to 100 parkruns and 50 volunteers at Cobram,” he said.
“It’s the sort of thing where I have no real reason to stop. I really enjoy it.”
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