As parkrun rolls inexorably onwards and the impressive statistics generated by the worldwide running community continue to pile up, running 500 parkruns is becoming rather more commonplace – after all, nearly 400 people worldwide have achieved this milestone.

However, very few of that cohort are aged over 80, so when Bedford Harriers' Ray Evans (80)  completed his 500th parkrun at his local Bedford Park event on New Year's Eve there was quite a fuss made – including a report on the regional BBC News station.

Ray qualified for his blue 500 parkrun T-shirt at his 488th Bedford parkrun – he has also run at Great Denham 10 times and Milton Keynes twice – on 31 December 2022 in 304th place from 387 finishers in a time of 35 minutes 15 seconds for an age-grade of 59.62%. His parkrun PB is 25:39 set at Bedford on 25th August 2012.

Far from handing in his barcode, Ray has already made progress towards his next 500 parkruns and has vowed to keep going until he "can't do it anymore". He started running in the 1970s and joined the weekly 5K parkrun events on 1st October 2011 when he ran 27:16 as an over-65 category participant.

Ray told a BBC reporter that he completed four marathons in the 1980s and said he now runs up to six miles in a session, but enjoys running the parkrun 5K distance on Saturdays. 

"It's the social side; you don't feel under any pressure and I like to keep fit and it's a way of making friends," he said. Receiving such rapturous applause "was a surprise" and it was "something I'll remember for the rest of my life".

During the pandemic restrictions, he ran 62 solo 'not-parkruns' on the Bedford course and he has also volunteered on 14 occasions. "I've been running for 40-odd years. It seems strange if I stop, so I'll keep going until I can't do it anymore," he said, adding: "I might walk around eventually, but you never know. You see a lot of the old faces and have a good old chin-wag."

Bedford parkrun organisers said Ray Evans was a "constant", and his achievement was "no mean feat", one that he shared with the 386 other runners who took part that Saturday in the 523rd parkrun event to be held in Bedford Park.

"He is a friend to all," organisers said. "Ray is an inspiration to many and we look forward to helping him achieve his next 500."

Image courtesy Leigh Kendall, Bedford parkrun