Community
15 April, 2026
Celebrating 200 parkruns
ALFRED Freth of Simpson recently celebrated volunteering at his 200th parkrun in Timboon, highlighting his dedication to the much-loved Saturday morning event.
Mr Freth takes photos of the morning runners and walkers for the parkrun page and has been doing so since 2021, when his wife Denise started walking in the Timboon parkrun.
“My wife’s brother, who had been doing parkrun for quite some time, he said it was time for me to get into it,” he said.
“I can’t walk far but Denise likes to do it, she walks it and I just went along.
“I used to take the camera with me and just take some photos and they said it was about time I signed up and started doing it properly.
“I’ve got to the stage now where I can’t stand for a long period of time so I take my own chair with me now and I sit on the chair.”
Out of the total 200 parkruns, 191 have been in Timboon, with the remaining nine being at various other locations when Mr and Mrs Freth were on holiday or away for the weekend.
Mr Freth said he would reach out to the parkrun where they were vacationing and ask if they were looking for a photographer.
“I went to Point Cook and took some photos down there and there was a lass down there who did her 250th run,” he said.
“I happened to take her photo and they liked the photo so much they put it up on what they call the photo of the week on their parkrun.
“It found its way across to London where parkrun was first started and found its way into the London Facebook page which goes worldwide so that was a feather in my cap.”
Mr Freth said he took up photography as a hobby, attending some classes at the community centre in Simpson before buying some SSLR cameras of his own to explore the craft.
He said volunteering at parkrun gives him the chance to meet new people and mingle with the community through his love of photography.
“We’re like a big family now at Timboon, it’s a beautiful spot,” Mr Freth said.
“Everybody that comes in, even the tourists who come in, they say the old rail trail is a wonderful venue for a parkrun.
“The friendliness of meeting so many people from all over the world keeps me coming back.
“They don’t just finish – they don’t just get their ticket and get their times and disappear, they stand around talking.
“Then we go down to the Provedore in the main street and have a coffee or breakfast with them.”
Mr Freth said he was no stranger to volunteer work as both a member of the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and the Lions Club.
“I’ve been with the CFA for 45 years,” he said.
“When I first moved into Simpson I became a scout leader and then when our son was playing football I was on the football club committee there.
“The Heytesbury Show Society, I was on that and I’ve been in the Lions Club for more than 30 years.
“We try to keep ourselves busy – it keeps us young.
“I can put more effort into those things so it’s not wasted time, it’s something I enjoy doing.”
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