New contributor: Paul Harrison

Name: Paul Harrison
Home parkrun: Greenwich
Date of first parkrun: 08/10/2011
Total number of parkruns (as at 28/01/12): 8
Number of times volunteered (as at 28/01/12): 2
My parkrun history: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/athleteresultshistory?AthleteNumber=193775
Twitter: twitter.com/paulhruns


I started doing morning jogs when I was 27. It took me several months to build up to running for 20 minutes without stopping. For the next 16 years I carried on doing short runs 3 or 4 times a week with no particular ambiton to take it further. Then  I was asked to step in at the last minute to make up a relay team for the Prague Half Marathon . With four runners it was just 5k each, so how could I refuse?.  In the bar after the event I committed to a 10k, and one thing led to another. I did my fourth half-marathon at the Great Birmingham Run last year. At the moment I am successfully resisting the irresistible pull of a full marathon...

And parkrun?  I found out about it one Friday, did my first run at Greenwich the following day and was an immediate convert. A timed 5k is surprisingly addictive and I love the mix of volunteer-led informality, brilliant technology and a simple killer concept.