The Parkrunner

by Simon Phillips

Martin Price is a man on a mission. An ex lower league footballer, now in his fifties, who has raised his children to adulthood, Martin now finds his sense of purpose in life lacking. His daughter, sensing this, buys her dad an entry into a Local 10k race in an attempt to get him motivated again, and the two of them commence their training at the local parkrun on a Saturday morning. It turns out that Martin, despite his age, is rather a good runner and the book follows the exploits of where this ability ultimately takes him from his humble beginnings to something a little bit different. Set in a world without coronavirus; The Parkrunner is a tale of camaraderie, triumph over adversity and how ultimately true love conquers all barriers.

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 16, 2020

Reviews

[Neil Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s called The Parkrunner, but really it only just touches on the Parkrun phenomenon. It’s a badly titled book as it’s about an older man’s significant athletic abilities and achievements.

I found the lack of proof reading distracting with various grammatical errors. The formatting is really bad with great wodges of text in each paragraph and speech embedded in each. There are no chapter headings to cue you into each chapter and no page numbers in the physical book.

If you want inspiration to be a super athlete then this is probably fine for that, but not for an everyday runner.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s called parkrunner but very little mention really of parkrun. Still I enjoyed the book and pleased I downloaded it. I found it enjoyable but odd. Thank you

[Claire Seddon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I usually read

Very well written and really gets you involved with the characters. Shows the true side of park run and the lovely camaraderie that is there

[sharonpalmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down

Liked the determination, and courage of the main character, a bit slow at first,but the book picked up. Not a finish I expected.

[Louise]

DNF a few pages in. The usual self publishing issues- bad writing, lack of editing etc. I picked this up as I thought it was a parkrun memoir- it's actually a fiction novel.

[Kay Hillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

Characters that you become really invested in going on a journey that you want to go on with them. Definitely needs a second book to know what happens next.