AN 80-year-old isn’t letting age - or a five-year battle with cancer - stop him as he prepares to take on his 400th park run tomorrow.
Danny Batty, from Penistone, started taking part in park runs back in 2012 and has been unable to stop.
He’s hoping to celebrate his 400th park run at Locke Park tomorrow - a route he much prefers to his local Penistone run.
He told the Chronicle: “There’s a run that’s only five minutes away from me but I don’t really like it.
“The one in Penistone is on a track so it’s pretty boring, but Barnsley’s is one of the toughest.
“There’s plenty of hills and it goes on for three laps, so I prefer that.
“But it’s not just the run, it’s the people.
“Everyone comes up to you and asks how you’re doing and what you’ve been up to since they last saw you.
“Running’s what you go for, but it’s the friendships and meeting new people that makes it.”
Despite his love for the runs, it’s not always been easy for Danny to keep regularly attending, as he was diagnosed with bowel cancer back in 2019.
“When I got diagnosed it put me out,” he added.
“I didn’t actually know I had bowel cancer at first, so I was still running before I got diagnosed.
“I’m a lot slower than I used to be, but I keep at it.
“When I did 250 runs I said I’d stop, then when I did 300 I said it again and so on.”
