In 2019, Angus mum Karen Fyffe took the first steps towards improving her fitness by joining the global parkrun craze.
She lined up for Montrose’s Saturday morning event at the same time as thousands of others around the world took part in the weekly 5K challenge.
Fast forward to 2022 and Karen’s fitness and confidence have soared.
So she’s hoping to inspire others to take up parkrunning as a way of boosting both their physical and mental health.
Arbroath parkrun switch
Karen, 48, is now a run director of the West Links parkrun in Arbroath.
And she’s thrilled to look back on the journey which has taken her from hesitant jogger to fully-fledged run director.
After joining the Montrose event she soon developed the confidence to volunteer there.
Parkruns depend on willing hands and Karen helped out as a barcode scanner, timekeeper and tailwalker.
But she encountered a double setback occurred in 2020 when the pandemic stopped local parkruns in their tracks.
At the same time, Karen sustained a knee injury which made exercise painful.
However, planning began for a new parkrun event in Arbroath.
And thanks to her contribution at Montrose, Karen was invited to join the core team of volunteers organising the West Links event.
This kept her parkrun involvement alive in the 17 months parkruns in mainland Scotland remained suspended.
Mum and daughter success
West Links parkrun launched in January 2022 when Karen and her daughter Sophia quickly became established as essential members of the team.
They both recently completed training as run directors.
And they have notched up their first mother-and-daughter duty in charge of the Arbroath event.
“The routine of getting to the start line on a Saturday with my daughter is something I look forward to each week,” said Karen.
“The other volunteers are friendly and everyone mucks in.
“Being part of something that benefits both myself and the community is very uplifting.”
She has now passed two separate parkrun milestones.
Karen completed her 25th parkrun by walking the 5km course, then logged her 50th volunteering day by helping close down after the event.
“An injury halted my own running for a while but I kept volunteering and walking when I felt up to it.
“I loved meeting up with such an amazing group.
“I’m proud of my achievement and grateful for the privilege of being able to support health in an inclusive way each week.”
