Det är en underbar känsla att numera presentera medlemmar som är med i klubben, en klubb som nu är verklighet. Vi fortsätter välja ut medlemmar varje dag, idag är det Deri Thomas.
Deri träffade jag första gången för några år sedan. Jag skulle presentera Spring för Urban Tribes och se om det fanns synergier. En engagerad och karismatisk löpare med ffa otroliga marathontider. Har haft förmånen att springa pass med honom uppe i Övik också, då får man ligga på… Kul att han är med i klubben
Vem är Deri Thomas?
First and foremost, a runner! I arrived in Sweden 10 years ago and I’ve been enjoying running in the fantastic Swedish nature ever since. I’m the Country Manager for parkrun Sweden, bringing the concept of parkrun to Sweden (www.parkrun.com & www.facebook.com/parkrunSweden). Also Operations Manager for Urban Tribes, delivering företagslöpning and much more in Stockholm & Göteborg (www.urbantribes.se).
Hur har inledningen på 2016 varit?
2016 to date
For me personally it’s been an enjoyable year of running where I’ve been able to train fairly consistently, although I had a knee injury that kept me out of the London Marathon. Having a long term injury (I had a stress fracture in my pelvis and then a foot injury that kept me away from running for almost a year in 2014-2015) makes you really appreciate when you’re fit and healthy. The highlight was running a 90 second PB in the world half marathon championships in Cardiff in March, in the pouring rain. (red anm – 1:15,32)
Running is huge in Sweden and it’s great to work with something I love. At Urban Tribes we’ve had the busiest spring ever. And it’s been great to work with the team back at parkrun Global and move towards make parkrun a reality here in Sweden. It’s hard to describe what an impact it’s had back at home (the UK) where 1 million people have run a parkrun, with nearly 100,000 people running or volunteering every week. It’s just part of the fabric of life there, and it would be great to create something similar here in Sweden.
Ambitioner med resten av året?
Rest of 2016
I’m excited about the launch of the first parkrun event in Hagaparken, which we’re planning for the end of August. And then of course it will be there every week after that! We’ve got several other possible parkrun locations in the pipeline, and hope that we may be able to get one or two of these started up before the end of the year. Free, friendly, welcoming events every week, what’s not to like?
For myself, my main target in the autumn is to run the Yorkshire Marathon in early October, and to see if I can finish in the top 10 there. York is where I used to live in the UK before I came to Sweden 10 years ago and it’s a beautiful city. I’m looking forward to catching up with my friends when I’m there. I’ll also be running Hälsoloppet at the end of August to try and run a quick 10km, plus running Lidingöloppet again. And more than anything I hope to stay injury free and enjoy my running.
Springklubben, varför?
Because it’s a great source of information for a runner and to keep in touch with what’s going on in the Swedish running scene. It was a real shame that the first incarnation of Spring didn’t work out, and it’s great that Spring is now going to make a reappearance. I’m happy to be a small part of making that happen.
Tack Deri och lycka till med Parkrun och höstens mara. Vill du också hålla dig uppdaterad över vad som händer med svensk löpning? Bli medlem i springklubben – http://spring.pren.nu/”>
