WE all want to be a little bit like Port Macquarie's Trish Davis.
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You will find her down at Town Beach every Saturday morning motivating hundreds of parkrunners to just get their bodies moving and to have fun.
Her spirit, vigor and love of her community has earned Trish the parkrun Hero of the Year title for Australia and a trip to London to participate in the Bushy parkrun - the original home of the popular global community event.
She could barely contain her excitement when told of her achievement via an online announcement on May 4.
"That's incredible," Trish said.
"It was such as shock I couldn't believe it. It's the easiest thing I've ever won. I live and breathe parkrun."
The 69-year-old said she has made it her mission in life to motivate people to be the best version of themselves. "It's what I live by," she said.
Trish was involved in a car accident in her early 20s and was told, because of her injuries, she would have problems with her body for the rest of her life.
"That really resonated with me," Trish said.
"I decided that I had to keep fit. I've always walked, run, swum, ridden a bike and made sure I kept bone health and muscle strength. That's the reason I started - I can't imagine not being fit and healthy now."
Trish has a background in nursing and health promotion in NSW Health. She said one of the things that gets her out of bed every day is encouraging other people to live healthy lives.
"When I was a community nurse I would see older people who had made poor choices in their younger days and their quality of life left a lot to be desired," Trish said.
"So I started a walking group and that brought me so much joy. That was 30 years ago and that group is still going down in the Camden Haven.
"It really is all just about keeping fit and active because I know when you are fit and active, you feel so much better, you look better and you perform better."
That's why parkrun ticked so many boxes for Trish. She hasn't missed one since the first small gathering ran along the breakwall in Port Macquarie five years ago. The weekly event now attracts hundreds of runners of all ages, shape sand sizes.
"There's nothing I love more than getting a first timer in and then they get hooked. It's such a friendly welcoming lot of people, I know they'll be back," she said.
"A couple of people I've brought along, it has really changed their lives. And there's spin-offs - I met so many other people and made so many other friends."
Trish was 66 when she ran her first marathon after completing the 900km Camino trail through Spain.
"When I walked the Camino across the top of Spain, biggest day walk I did was 44kms. I thought to myself a marathon is only 42km, so I came back to Australia and trained and did it," she said.
parkrun Australia in partnership with Medibank awarded Trish the title because she embodied the Live Better spirit as a role model for older runners.
Her love of keeping healthy and active is so infectious, Trish even continued to recruit more parkrunners in the Hastings as she was recovering in hospital from a hip replacement.
As a parkrun Hero finalist last May, Trish also won a trip to the Bellerive parkrun in Tasmania.
"A huge smile, a warm heart and endless encouragement for everyone," Elizabeth said.
"Two weeks after her hip replacement, she came back to parkrun and walked. What's more, she encourages everyone she meets (even in hospital) to join parkrun.
"She's not just a hero. She's a role model for active seniors. Heroes come in many forms but above all I think they are people who inspire something in us.
"Whether it's to be kinder, fitter, healthier, braver, more generous... it's about wanting to become the best version of yourself.
"Trish is one of those special people. She also makes parkrun an inclusive place, for all ages and abilities. I often joke "everyone loves Trishy"... but it's true. We do. She's just brings joy with her."
Trish will be taking her running buddy Elizabeth to London when travel restrictions are eased and it's safe to venture abroad.
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