PARKRUN Hamilton will see a milestone achieved when Carol Pryle partakes in her 250th Parkrun event at Lake Hamilton tomorrow.

Having been a participant at the very first Parkrun held in Hamilton in October 2015, Pryle took to running only a few weeks before the start of Parkrun in Hamilton as she used to only walk but decided she wanted to go faster.

“I started walking for exercise a few weeks before Hamilton Parkrun began and I joined the very first event here and just started running, as I wanted to go faster,” Pryle said.

This is a significant milestone for any Parkrun participant and for Hamilton Parkrun.

The picturesque 5km course around Lake Hamilton is something Pryle really enjoys, adding to the appeal of the weekly event.

Her Parkrun personal best of 25 minutes 41 seconds was achieved in April 2017 here in Hamilton, and while she is no longer able to post such times, her overall fitness has been a key benefit of Pryle's Parkrun experience.

 She also enjoys the camaraderie and social side of Parkrun in Hamilton and as a Parkrun visitor in other locations and venues has enjoyed not only the beautiful scenery on offer, but also meeting people who she has got to know via each event. 

The runner has also been a participant in some of the Parkrun challenges, which are set up via the Parkrun App, for participants to attempt worldwide.

For example, the 'Jetsetter' goal was achieved in the Parkrun World Tourist Challenge, where the overall goal is to attend a Parkrun in as many different countries as possible.

As a 'jetsetter’, she has attended a Parkrun in four different countries to date with Australia, England, Ireland and Poland already ticked off, with a visit to New Zealand also on the horizon.

Another of the challenges is Parkrun’s 'Alphabet Challenge', where participants aim to attend a Parkrun with the name of the venue, starting with each letter of the alphabet (e.g., H for Hamilton) and the local only has three letters to go (U, Q and Z).

She will mark off U and Z with a trip to Brisbane in about a month, but Q will have to wait until a trip to Queenstown, New Zealand.

“I’m going to Brisbane soon and there are parkruns at Zillmere and at Underwood Park, which covers two of the remaining three letters, but I could go to Queen’s Domain in Casino, NSW but Queenstown in New Zealand appeals more,” Pryle said.

Parkrun has also taken the 55-year-old on a cross-border adventure, running in two countries during the same event (Poland and the Czech Republic), as the course crossed the border of the countries. 

Pryle hasn’t only restricted herself to the 5km distance, completing two marathons and one 50km event.

Parkruns are free, weekly, community events all around the world that are held on Saturday mornings at 8am in Hamilton, with events being 5km long and take place in parks and open spaces.