HARLOW runner Alan Wellbelove ran his 500th parkrun in the town park on Saturday morning.

Alan ran his first parkrun in Great Notley on August 23rd 2014.

He was part of the core team that campaigned to have a 5k run in Harlow.

Naturally, he was there for the first running in Harlow on November 8th, 2014 and has been a much cherished indeed well-beloved member of the Harlow running community since then.

Alan has run a number of other parkruns at home including the home of parkrun in Bushy and abroad in Germany.

He is only one of a handful of Harlow runners who have reached the prestigious milestone. They all get to wear the blue 500 T-shirt.

One kind member of the 500 club ordered a t-shirt last week and presented Alan with it after he had competed the course.

Alan is also a key member of West Essex Mind and is a great advocate of running as a great exponent of running being good for the mind.

Well done Alan. You are a credit to the running community and a real ambassador for mental health.

You are all very welcome to come down to Harlow parkrun, a free 5k run/jog/wheel/walk around the park on a Saturday morning.