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Jul 2023
Harrogate Parkrun founder’s trek through ‘the toughest footrace on earth’
Harrogate man Adam Prentis loves a project.
Whether it be helping to set up Harrogate’s Parkrun on the Stray or trekking through the Sahara Desert in a feat of endurance, he has a taste for the more difficult tasks.
A keen runner, Adam took up the sport quite late in life when he was 46 years old.
From there, he’s chaired his local running club, set up a community park run and even been selected for Britain in the triathlon and duathlon events.
“I like doing things that are difficult,” he says.
But what motivates him to take on such projects and how did he arrive at the idea of setting up Parkrun?
Starting out
While some athletes are born to run and take on feats of endurance such as marathons, Adam’s story is slightly different.
Born in Bramhope before moving to Harrogate in the year 2000, Adam was, by his own admission, not “particularly fit” before he took up running.
In 2009, Adam’s friend had the New York Marathon down on his bucket list.
He set about training for the marathon. The schedule was tough and left him with injuries.
Despite the hurdles starting out, Adam came up with a schedule for the New York Marathon and completed in November 2009 - an achievement which he describes as “life affirming”.
Adam competing for Great Britain.
But, for Adam, the marathons did not stop there. He is constantly on the lookout for new challenges.
Adam has since gone on to run the five marathon majors in Berlin, Boston, London, Chicago and New York - which he went back to run again three times.
'The toughest footrace on earth'
Perhaps one of Adam’s most remarkable projects was the Marathon des Sables in 2013.
The feat of endurance tasks participants with six marathons in six days through the unforgiving climate and terrain of the Sahara Desert.
Adam first came across the event when he was looking for his next project in 2012.
He read a news article about the Marathon des Sables, which describes itself as the “toughest footrace on earth”, and that was enough to make him sign up.
The race is self supporting, meaning those taking part have to carry their own food, clothes and medical supplies for the week.
Adam flew in through Morocco for the event and took it on for his 50th birthday.
The experience drove him to other projects, such as climbing Mount Everest in 2019.
Adam and his mountaineer friend, Chris Brown, climbed the mountain to base camp before running a marathon back down to the finish line at Namche Bazar in Nepal.
Adam pictured running the Everest marathon from base camp.
The terrain, temperature and environment around the Everest marathon is too much for some to handle.
Climbing the mountain to base camp took the pair two weeks to complete.
Meanwhile, the overnight temperatures dropped to -18 degrees and the diet on Everest saw Adam suffer some muscle wastage.
In between his projects, Adam has competed for Great Britain at triathlon and duathlon in his age category.
In 2018, he finished second in the World Championships in duathlon at the age of 55.
But, one of Adam’s proudest projects lies closer to home and can be seen in practice every Saturday morning.
Founding Harrogate Parkrun
In 2011, Adam secured a trial in Harrogate for a Parkrun.
The idea came to him when he was stood watching his son play football one Saturday morning on the Stray.
He had not long been running, but saw an opportunity to create something that people of all ages and abilities could take part in.
A Parkrun in Harrogate from 2015.
Adam approached Harrogate Borough Council about using the land near Empress roundabout, which was only used for football and dog walking at the time.
The council offered him a trial licence for the event.
Parkrun takes place every Saturday morning and sees men and women from beginners to aspiring athletes take part.
The success of Harrogate also saw Adam set up the Fountains Abby parkrun near Ripon.
Both now see on average 400 people take part each week.
For Adam, part of the reason for setting up the initiative in the first place was to offer something for everyone to take part in.
'Harrogate needs a running track'
Recently, Adam has been looking for his next project.
This year, he stood down as chairman of the Harrogate Harriers running club after four years in post.
While there, he helped oversee the club through covid and the development of the junior and senior runners.
Now, he has his eye on a legacy project for the town - a running track.
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The town has two running tracks at the Army Foundation College and RAF Menwith Hill, but both are inaccessible to the general public.
For Adam, the lack of a facility is letting down potential athletes in the town who are forced to drive some 23 miles to York to train.
Adam points out that a running track is not just about running, but also field athletics such as javelin, high jump and shot put.
He has tried for four years to make the project happen and get schools, landowners and the council on board to push it forward - but to no avail, so far.
But, despite the setbacks, it is still his ambition to try and get people interested in the idea and to create a facility for future generations.
If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured in Sporting Spotlight, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.
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