An 85-year-old County Durham runner who has broken 179 Parkrun records with his impressive times is determined to get more accolades under his belt in the future.
Laurie Cummings, from School Aycliffe, broke his sixth record in six weeks on Saturday (February 21) when he recorded a time of 28 minutes and 48 seconds at the Wynyard Wood Parkrun.
But these are just six achievements from a long list of records that Laurie has broken across County Durham, Northumberland, Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Scotland, and the South of England.
At 85, Laurie still follows a full daily athletics routine, spending an hour in the gym before heading to the Oak Leaf Running Track in Newton Aycliffe each morning -and he continues to attend races and running events across the UK.
Laurie's love of running started at the age of just 12, when he was growing up in Easington Colliery and running between there and the neighbouring village of Grants Houses to deliver his newspapers, including plenty of copies of The Northern Echo. He'd then run to and from school.
"I have been running since 12, and I won't be stopping," the 85-year-old said.
"In the 80-85 category, no one could touch me - I've broken 179 records. And now I'm moving towards the 85-89 age catgory and I can look to breaking all of those records.
"I've always loved running and athletics, and always enjoyed it at school."
This love of running hasn't stopped throughout his life either.
After leaving school at 15, Laurie got a job at Easington Colliery Pit, before quickly transitioning to become an electrician, serving his five years as an apprentice, four miles out beneath the North Sea.
Realising this line of work wasn't for him, he joined the police force in Durham in 1963, which saw him serve his community for 31 years, rising up the ranks to sergeant, with roles that included being a physical training instructor at the cadet school.
During that time, the now 85-year-old would be part of the Durham police athletics team.
And it was at this time that he rubbed shoulders with future Olympians.
While training for athletic events, he trained alongside fellow North East athlete and police officer, Ernie Pomfret, who went to the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
"I could get nowhere near Ernie, but he's one of the only ones who escaped me and managed to run faster than me," added Laurie.
Now retired for 32 years from the police force, Laurie began his Parkrun adventure in July 2019, where he has gone on to break an incredible 179 records.
"My main incentive now is to break as many records as possible," said the 85-year-old.
Despite the competitive side, Laurie has credited the Parkrun events as a "family-like community".
Laurie added: "It's great to meet loads of people. I've travelled across the country to do Parkrun events, and it's nice to meet everyone from different walks of life and to chat to them about their lives.
"It's nice to push myself as much as possible, too.
"Parkrun isn't just for people running, it's for walkers, people with pushchairs, people with dogs. It brings everyone together."
Accolades are not a new concept to Laurie.
In 1992, he took part in the Veterans World Championships and gained three world rankings, ninth as a marathon runner, ninth as a 25k road runner and 24th as a 10k road runner.
Alongside the friendly competition, Laurie jokes that he sometimes turns up to Parkrun events and people are left rolling their eyes, while saying: "Not him again."
Laurie credits his wife Judy, who was a PE teacher at Staindrop Comprehensive School for 30 years, as his coach, driver, and all-around support network.
They met through The Northern Echo’s Two’s Company dating feature back in 1999, and Laurie did all his courting in typical fashion, running seven miles, twice a week, from his home in Bishop Auckland to see Judy in School Aycliffe.
They got married three years ago.
It's Judy who is behind Laurie's rigorous exercise training.
It starts with 20 minutes of free-standing exercises at home, followed by an hour-long session in the gym, before finishing off on his local track at the Oakleaf Sports Complex.
He affords himself Sunday off, though.
"Getting up and about is what it's all about," said Laurie.
"I hope to still be running for many years to come."
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Not content with just running, Laurie also spent a lot of his time diving.
After first starting diving in the early 1990s, he moved to Bodrum in Turkey and split his time between there and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, where he completed over 13,000 successful dives as a diving instructor.
But for now, though, it's full speed ahead on the running and Laurie in pursuit of more and more titles in the future.
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