Four-time Ironman World Champion

As parkrun's global head of health and wellbeing, parkrun hosts weekly free community 5k events across the country, benefiting from national lottery funds.

In his previous life, Ironman was quite active, winning his triathlon world championship four times and becoming the first British man to hold the title. But Chrissie also had a weakness...

"My coach caught it better than ever. He said, 'Physically, you do what you need.' I have, but I must cut off your head. Lowe, 44, and daughter Esme, 6.

"To be the warrior you need to be successful, you have to have a mental state." He said he had a lot of work to do to better develop himself.”

When Chrissy was in her teens and early twenties, she struggled with years of eating disorders. Part of that work was to overcome

Consume enough to maintain metabolic activity. So when I decided I wanted to take triathlon more seriously, I knew I needed to empower myself with the knowledge of effective refueling,” he said, at the age of 29. says her Chrissie, who quit to compete professionally.

"It was a long and difficult process, but having that understanding and having performance-related goals overridden any image-related goals I had before."

Clichy became the only Ironman triathlete to win a World Championship within 12 months of turning pro and remain undefeated throughout his career.

Despite retiring from professional competition in January 2012, his physical activity remains a driving force in her Chrissie life through her role in parkrun.

Run or walk. The pace is up to you – mostly having fun, staying fit, and removing barriers to physical activity. Joining is easy, all fitness levels and abilities are encouraged, and there are no time limits.

Her £3.6million has also been raised for her parkrun over the past eight years, thanks to participants in the National Lottery. “National Lottery funding has allowed us to attract more participants and make parkrun as accessible as possible,” she says.

"This has allowed us to focus on launching more events, and to reach out to women, girls, people with health problems, and people from socially disadvantaged areas. We have increased our engagement efforts.”

Chrissie sees how his team's efforts pay off each weekend by simply stopping by one of the 1,147 events held across the country. You can check whether the "I've seen people of all ages and abilities, including people with health problems and disabilities who have never had access to physical activity. They've had their lives changed by parkrun.

"For example , there is Alison, an amazing blind parkrunner in Southport who is led by other members of the parkrun community on the course, and the National Lottery funding gives people like her the opportunity Yes, because parkrun is more accessible to people with visual impairments.

"There's also Grace, a lovely 83-year-old woman who started parkrun after being diagnosed with heart disease. Today she has completed 139 parkruns and volunteered at least 22.

"Another gentleman, John lost his wife six months ago. It's a way of rebuilding his life and a sense of connectedness within the local community."

And for those unsure about going with Chrissie, one important message she is telling "Last year Tom and I climbed Snowdon with Esme, who was five at the time. Someone at the bottom asked, 'What if she can't?' It's not for me to decide if it works or not, we just try.My parents always had that mindset and it was a very useful lesson for me.Our life This includes parkrun, just try it."

Why parkrun is a family affair for Lorraine

Lorraine Isaac, 55, from Siston, Leicestershire , says parkrun inspired three generations of her family to move.

"I lost a lot of weight in 2014, and I wanted to keep it off, so I didn't feel like running at all, but I started jogging from streetlight to streetlight with a friend." Lorraine explains: She walked mostly at first, but got a little addicted. ''

must be. She now has over 140 park runs. And it became her real family matter. After Lorraine lost her mother, Sheila, to COVID-19 in October 2020, parkrun provided her father, Bob, 82, with a lifeline.

. "Just walking the course was hard work for him, so I wasn't sure if he would come with me, but we're always looking for volunteers, so I asked him to join us in March. Stick your vest in and say, "Standing in that corner, he loved it. Now he looks forward to every Saturday. It gives him a routine. A reason to get up and go out.

and in September last year With the help of her husband, Dave, 66, and daughter, Amie, 23, Lorraine launched a new parkrun at Watermead Country Park near her home, which currently attracts about 260 people each week.

Recently, Lorraine found herself praising parkrun to Paralympic sprinter Johnny Peacock at a national lottery event. I've never done a park run because I'm not a distance runner, but I invited her to volunteer.'

She was clearly persuasive. Because Johnny is passionate about encouraging people to be positive and will be cheering people on next Saturday at his local Park Park in Manchester.

Lorraine said: No pressure. not a competition. To be honest, she has to admit that she doesn't like running, but she does love how she feels after a parkrun.

To find out how your numbers make for some amazing numbers, visitnational-lottery.co.uk/summer-of-sport

*May 2014 figures through February 2022.