Richard Pitcairn-Knowles was inspired to return to running after a gap of 30 years when he watched the inaugural 1981 London Marathon. Before that lengthy break, he had enjoyed sports days at Hastings Grammar School but a busy career as an osteopath and raising a family kept him otherwise engaged until he took part in the Sunday Times National Fun Run in Hyde Park, aged 48, finishing 84th overall at a useful 6:21/mile pace.

From that light bulb moment, a career that included fixing broken runners led to establishing parkrun age group records via an interest in running further, faster, and for longer as a member of Blackheath Harriers and later Sevenoaks AC, Veterans AC, and Southern Counties Veterans AC.

Highlights of Richard's impressive endurance abilities include the Woodford to Southend 40 miles in 5:30:32; London to Brighton 55 miles in 7:06:23 and South Downs Way 80 miles in 14:42:50. The 1984 London Marathon in 2:51:02 was a personal best and he ran his final London Marathon for charity in 2013, aged 80, in 6:31:45.

In recent years, Richard has reinvented himself as a sprinter and represented British Masters at home and abroad at world championships level, having topped the UK rankings on more than 50 occasions between 2011 (M75) and 2020 (M85) at distances from 60m to 10K – plus the long jump!

On Saturday (2 December 2023), just 19 days shy of his 91st birthday, Richard reached a huge milestone that has taken more than 12 years to accomplish by finishing his 500th parkrun at Tonbridge in a leisurely 1:04:31. That may have been nearly three times his best parkrun time (24:11 at Bromley in 2011) but he is possibly the oldest ever 500 parkrunner to date.

runABC's reporter Alan Newman discovered that Richard started parkruns at Bromley on 5 June 2010 as a good way to aid his training for more serious athletics events and he has since run 162 of his 500 parkruns at Bromley as he found it: "very well organised and friendly".

Regarding his magnificent achievement of 500 parkruns at 90 years old, Richard said: "It was the coldest day of the winter so far. I was glad of the company of George Frogley and his daughter for our 64-minute walk! Great support from all those who braved the cold waiting for us to finish."

Finally, we asked Richard for his advice on longevity as a runner: "Keep going, keep exercised, keep fit, summer is on the way. My motto is: 'Use it or lose it', but now I'm so old I can't find it anymore! parkrun is for everybody, fast or slow – just try it."

Sounds like good advice to us. Richard Pitcairn-Knowles – you are an inspiration to us all.

Photos showing Richard Pitcairn-Knowles handing in his 500th barcode and with his family at Bromley parkrun in October 2023 courtesy Richard and Mark Pitcairn-Knowles