Still doing Parkruns at 82

THREE hundred Saturdays and counting.

At 8am this morning, Ramesh Deeplaul followed his usual routine; he woke up at six, laced up his running shoes, and made his way to Shelley Park in Perth, Australia, to meet the familiar faces he’s come to know as friends.

But the former Pietermaritzburg resident is far from your ordinary senior citizen.

A few hours ago, he officially clocked up his 302nd Parkrun, a remarkable feat at any age, but especially at 82.

Deeplaul’s journey into Parkrun began in 2018 when friends introduced him to the weekly event. Since then, he’s never looked back.

While his family may think it’s time for him to slow down, he doesn’t see the point in doing that. After all, as he likes to say, no matter how many years you’ve got under your belt, there’s always room for "one more Parkrun."

"My children say, ‘Dad, you’ve got to stop it.’ And I tell them, ‘Alright, I’ll stop, and then I’ll just sit in front of the TV, buy a bottle of Scotch, and watch the world go by. Will that make you happy?’” he laughs. "But that’s just not my style."

Two years ago, life threw him a curveball. At 80, Ramesh was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Eleven hours in surgery and three weeks in ICU didn’t dampen his spirits.

To everyone’s surprise, and delight, the cancer disappeared. The doctors were stunned. “They told me, ‘Don’t stop doing what you’re doing,’” he recalls. And just days after being discharged, he was lacing up his running shoes again, back to his Saturday Parkrun routine.

He chooses to walk, rather than run because of the metal placed in his knee a few years ago. He says before surgery he did the Parkrun in 45 minutes, now it takes him about 65 minutes to complete the five kilometre walk.  

So far most of his Parkruns have been in Australia, while the 23 he did in South Africa were at various places like Pietermaritzburg, Piggly Wiggly,  Durban beachfront and Ashburton. 

For him it's become a way of life. 

“I can have a party on Friday night, but Saturday morning, I get up at six o'clock to go for my Parkrun at 8 o'clock,” said Deeplaul.

His resilience and zest for life have earned him many friends. Widowed after losing his wife to a heart attack several years ago, Deeplaul now lives alone but is far from lonely. In fact, his days are filled with both work and giving back to his community. He still has several business interests in Australia, and when he’s not running, he’s often found helping out, whether it’s weeding a garden or volunteering at a local charity shop.

“I’ve always got something to do,” he says. “Today I was fixing my neighbor’s ventilation. Tomorrow, I’ll find something else.”

While his sons and grandchildren don’t make it to Parkrun every week, they’ve been there for all the milestone runs - his 50th, 100th, and now his 300th. His youngest son, Vishal, joined him for his 300th run in Perth.

“He’s absolutely amazing,” says Vishal. “He sets a high bar for us and the grandkids to follow.”

Although Deeplaul emigrated to Australia many years ago, he still returns to South Africa several times a year to see family and friends.

Known throughout South Africa because of his various business ventures, like Deepsons, he has been a household name in the transport industry for decades. Beyond business in Pietermaritzburg, he was also heavily involved in charity work, particularly with organisations like Lions International. He’s also a co-founder of Club Woodlander, the clubhouse for the Woodlands Ex-Students’ Club.

Will he ever stop doing Parkruns? He just laughs and says, “The older people here just keep going and going, they put you to shame!”