19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- North Wales Chronicle
Nonagenarian former runner does laps of Caernarfon care home
John Carson, a former member of the Eryri Harriers running club, completed several laps around the grounds of Pendine Park's Bryn Seiont Newydd care home in Caernarfon.
Mr Carson joined fellow residents and staff in walking 40 laps - covering 10 miles - to celebrate Pendine Park's 40th anniversary and the care home's 10th birthday.
(Each lap measured a quarter of a mile.)
Mr Carson said: "It's always good to get some exercise – it's great therapy for the mind and the body.
"Doing this makes me feel like I'm 21 again!"
Originally from Matlock in Derbyshire, Mr Carson moved to North Wales for work at Trawsfynydd power station.
Mr Carson said of his upbringing: "I grew up running in Derbyshire.
"When I was at school there was no such thing as school dinners so I had to run home every day for my lunch.
"We lived at the top of a very steep hill, so when it came to running mountains I found I was already well trained!"
He continued running into his seventies, earning several awards for his times in the veterans' class.
For the first lap of the anniversary walk, he was joined by fellow Eryri Harriers veteran Emyr Gibson, a Welsh actor, singer, and the care home's creative practitioner.
Mr Gibson said: "John has an amazing running record and he can still build up a fine pace today.
"If I can walk a quarter of a mile as well as he can when I'm in my nineties, I'll be a happy man."
Mr Gibson is known for his 18-year role as Meical in the S4C Welsh language series Rownd a Rownd.
He now works with musician-in-residence Nia Davies Williams and other staff to deliver a therapeutic programme of music, arts, and crafts for residents with dementia.
Other residents also took part in the walk.
Kathleen Taylor said: "It's nice to get out in the fresh air and build up our energy levels.
"The gardens are beautiful at this time of year, which makes it all the more enjoyable."
Residents Henry Brian Jones and Huw Williams completed a lap alongside Bryn Seiont Newydd manager Sandra Evans.
Mr Williams said: "It's been great to see everyone getting involved and being so enthusiastic.
"There are definitely lots of smiles here today."
Ms Evans said it was heartwarming to see staff and residents waving anniversary pennants and bunting from windows as the runners went by.
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She said: "It is amazing to think that a decade has gone by since we first opened our doors to residents here at this wonderful site in Caernarfon.
"We have become like a big family - Bryn Seiont Newydd really is a home from home for residents and staff."
Ms Evans said the double anniversary, of Bryn Seiont Newydd and of Pendine Park, made this year "extra special for us all."
