David Lattimore is pretty well known in and around Cirencester.

One of two event directors at the recently established Cirencester parkrun – the other is Lindsay Crew – he has played a big part in its development over the past nine months or so.

His face is familiar in Toulouse as well because he volunteers at their parkrun as well.

His daughter Emma lives in the south of France with her young family, and grandad, who only discovered the joy of running over the past decade or so, doesn’t need any second invitation if there’s a chance to get people involved in the sport he has grown to love.

Not that the Toulouse parkrun has caught on like the Cirencester parkrun.

And while Lattimore has played a big part in one of Cirencester’s sporting success stories he is by no means the only one because there are some 100-plus volunteers who the organisers are able to call on – plus a race director - who ensure that you can run for fun every Saturday morning in Cirencester if you want to.

“The first parkrun in Cirencester took place on 3rd February this year,” explained Lattimore. “It takes place every Saturday morning at the Royal Agricultural University and for the first event we had 208 runners and 44 volunteers.”

That was a more than decent start and the figures have continued to be impressive with the biggest number taking part in a single parkrun reaching 294.

Parkruns are very much a 21st-century phenomenon with the first taking place as recently as 2004.

“It was at Bushey Park in Teddington in Middlesex and 13 people turned up,” said Lattimore. “Now they take place all over the country and there are 4,500 parkruns worldwide.”

So why have parkruns, which are run over 5K, become so popular?

“It’s a run, not a race,” said Lattimore, who is a member of Cirencester Athletics and Triathlon Club, “and you can walk, jog or run. We get a lot of people who come along who have never run before.

“Quite a lot then come back and they see an improvement.

“You see the pleasure on their faces when they cross the finish line. For first-timers, running 5K is an enormous step and it’s very rewarding when they do get round.”

Lattimore is rightly proud of what has been achieved over the past few months although he says getting it up and running took some four years to organise.

And while the joy of just being able to run is obviously a big attraction, there are other reasons why Lattimore thinks parkruns are proving so popular.

“There’s no bureaucracy, it’s totally free because it’s run by volunteers,” he said. “There’s no pressure.

“You don’t find marshalls closing down towards the end, everybody stays and everybody gets a cheer and a clap as they go round and when they cross the finishing line.

“And you can never finish last because there is always a tail walker.”

For those who don’t know, a tail walker is somebody who runs – or walks – behind the last competitor and it was a role that Lattimore performed a couple of days before talking to The Local Answer.

“I finished in 47 minutes, 11 seconds which wasn’t too bad at all, I had to do a bit of running, it wasn’t just walking,” he added.

And although it is a run, not a race, everybody who completes is given a time.

Lattimore’s fastest 5K is around 25.30 although these days he normally goes around in about 29 minutes.

The quickest Cirencester parkrun was completed by Simon Nott, a visiting runner, who finished in 15.55.

He took the record from the always impressive and ever-popular Cirencester AC runner Dave Bell and Lattimore said of Bell’s run: “He said he was tightening up on the third lap – he’ll be back!”

The women’s record of 19.39 is held by Edwina McDowall – another visiting runner – and while the quickest times are obviously impressive that’s not the main objective of parkruns.

Increased participation in the sport is the aim of the game and Lattimore is certainly one of the converted after only starting running in his late 50s.

He wishes he’d started sooner, of course, but admits he was always very non-sporty.

So how did he get involved in running?

“It was a desire to get fit,” he explained, “it was my wife Linda who got me started. She was running 10 years ago and said I should give it a go.”

He did, joining Cirencester AC and it’s all taken off from there even though Linda no longer runs.

These days Lattimore is a member of Cirencester AC’s social committee – he used to be on the club’s committee – and he runs three times a week in addition to his involvement with the parkrun.

“Running has given me great enjoyment,” he said. “The club have been great ever since I joined and they were soon putting me in races.”

And some of the races weren’t just any old races.

“I ran the London Marathon twice,” he said. “My fastest time was four hours, 40 minutes which I was very pleased with.”

There was also something else about that run that pleased him very much.

“At 22 miles I overtook that chap Chris Evans, the TV personality,” he said. “He’s got a few years on me!”

And although he is well into his seventh decade, Wigan-born Lattimore, who moved to this part of the world 20 years ago, has certainly got no plans to hang up his running shoes any time soon.

So why does he enjoy it so much at a time of life when many people are happy just to sit on their sofa?

“It’s the pleasure of being outside no matter what the weather,” he said. “You’re getting fit and it’s the comradeship, I’ve made a lot of friends.”

And that’s the opportunity that the Cirencester parkrun offers to so many. It’s the same in Toulouse, although la Ramee, as their parkrun is called, hasn’t taken off in quite the same way.

“It’s run by ex-pats and the most people they’ve had in a parkrun is 40,” said Lattimore. “There are only seven parkruns in the whole of France. I don’t think the French can understand them because there’s no bureaucracy and they’re free!”

Whether those are the reasons or not, it’s a shame because the huge popularity of parkruns in this country is certainly having some impact on the nation’s general health because Parkrun UK and the Royal College of General Practitioners have teamed up to promote the health and well-being of staff and patients.

It’s an initiative that Lattimore, who used to work in the dairy industry, very much supports and is very much involved in.

The benefits of a bit of exercise to an individual – and the country as a whole – are obvious and the Cirencester parkrun is certainly playing a full part.

As Lattimore, who is in his late 60s, says: “Anybody can take part. We’ve had people in their 80s running and children as young as five or six.”