A local athlete from Byford, Dane Sproxton, has made history over the weekend by becoming the youngest athlete in Australia to complete 24 Parkruns in 24 hours.
Dane has gobsmackingly completed the cumulative 120km feat at only 14 years of age.
The Byford local managed to complete the marathon effort at an average pace of 4.50 minutes a kilometre, which as event facilitator Kara McFeat pointed out is “not very average at all”.
Last January, 15-year-old Jack Brown became the youngest runner in the nation to complete 24 different park runs throughout Perth in 24 hours in blistering 40-degree heat.
This year’s event was mercifully milder, and attracted seven runners from WA, including one in Bunbury and one in Busselton. The event was held across five different Australian cities over the weekend.
The Perth Parkrun began at 8am on Saturday, with all participants finishing the first run at Garvey Park before heading off to their second one at 9am. Throughout the day runners completed laps in parks and foreshores all over Perth, including in Champion Lakes, along the Canning River, and the Shelley Foreshore.
Each Parkrun is five kilometres in length and each run has to ostensibly be completed in around half an hour or under in order to allow enough time to pack up and drive to the starting line for the next one.
It’s a unique test of endurance as most of the runs take place during the day when heat is the main debilitating factor, then running through the night with a head torch while contending with the cold.
Dane was the only youth participant in WA and his steely resilience earned props from world record-holding Ultra runner Phil Gore.
“Huge shout out also to Dane, who at just 14-years-old has become the youngest person to complete 24 parkruns in 24 hours. It was pretty special to share a few k’s with him,” he said.
But Phil wasn’t the only fan Dane managed to pick up over the weekend.
“Congratulations Dane. Love seeing kids do such epic things, can’t wait to see what he does next. New fan acquired,” Harmony Waite said.
“The future of WA’s Ultra running is bright with Dane Sproxton,” Karlos Aquino said.
As of Wednesday, the 24 Parkruns in 24 hours (WA) event has attracted almost $9000 in donations towards nominated charity On My Feet, which is an Australian not-for-profit organisation which transforms the lives of those who are vulnerable and homeless by creating self-worth, a sense of purpose and self-sufficiency through employment, education and exercise focussed programs.
