OLYMPIC LEGENDS TEAM UP TO CELEBRATE MILLIONTH PARK RUN IN BUSHY PARK
Words and Photos by: Trevor Aldridge and Jamie Aldridge
Two of Britain’s Olympic legends from the slopes and the tracks joined over 1,500 runners in Bushy Park yesterday to mark and celebrate the one millionth park run.
Dame Kelly Holmes, 56 years old double-gold medallist from Athens 2004, and Dave Ryding 5 times Winter Olympian and winner of the prestigious Kitzbuhel World Cup Slalom, were both present as Bushy Park, the birthplace of the park run in 2004 and its most famous venue.
Teddington Town sat down with Dave Ryding aged 39, over breakfast in Teddington afterwards to chat about park runs, his glittering ski-racing career and retirement.
Q) Park runs have been part of your training regime for some time, can you explain?
A) “I’ve been doing park runs since 2018. I use it as an indication of my fitness levels. Being every Saturday, same distance, I don’t need a coach to set a programme – I just run and keep note of my times. I tell myself I need to be at a certain place if I want to compete with the world’s best athletes.”
Q) How was your Bushy Park experience today?
A) “It was very special for me. It’s been on my bucket list for some time and when I heard today would be a celebration of one million park runs, that made it even better. I live in the North and Southport is my local event, but I have run at 11 different venues now – Bushy Park being one I will cherish.”
Q) How did it go?
A) “I finished in 6th place in a time of 17 mins 10 secs, so I was 10 seconds slower than my target, but I’m happy with how it turned out.”
Q) You recently announced your retirement from ski-racing but will you keep doing park runs?
A) “Definitely. I will go on doing them every weekend I can for as many years as I am able. I would urge others to do the same; it’s great for your fitness and health.”
Q) You had a glittering career in World Cup ski-racing, with 7 podiums, capped by a win at Kitzbuhel in 2022 – the skiing equivalent to golf’s US Masters or Formula 1’s Monaco – all this by a lad who started in dry ski slopes and had to operate without the enormous resources available to the top alpine nation teams. Did you ever think if only I were part of their set-ups?
A) “I never made excuses and I never thought of myself as disadvantaged. I always looked for the positives. I had a small and dynamic team around me. We could be flexible and agile, adapting training programmes to suit my needs. The larger, better funded alpine teams couldn’t do that.”
Q) You had a long career from your first World Cup race in 2009 until retirement after the Milan Cortina Olympics in February this year. You were ranked in the World’s top 15 slalom racers pretty much every season from 2017 to 2025. How challenging was it to sustain that level of performance?
A) Being in the top 15 is important because that meant a better surface and course conditions and it certainly added to the stress, but somehow we managed it. We cut our cloth according to what we had and adapted the programmes to make the most of what was available.”
Q) When you look back, what were the standout moments?
“My Kitzbuhel win for sure. That day I was the best ski racer in the world. And at Kitzbuhel too! But I would also say when we got three Brits ranked in the top 30 in the world (me plus my team-mates Billy Major and Laurie Taylor) that was really special.”
Q) For a long time you were Britain’s sole representative among the elite of men’s slalom racing. What shape is GB Snowsports in now?
“The next generation of racers is very strong. We’ve got two guys in the top 40 – who’ve had top 10 finishes in World Cup – and several new faces coming through who are dominating the 2nd tier circuit in slalom and giant slalom. And talented young women too. Snowsports generally is in a fantastic place. It’s very exciting.”
Q) What have your experiences taught you and what advice would you pass on to young athletes?
A “Whether it is your professional career or sport, you must get up each day and aim to get the most out of yourself. Apply yourself, be consistent, don’t make excuses and don’t miss the chance to improve. Never accept less than 100% effort from yourself.”
Q) What next for you, now you’ve retired from competitive ski racing?
A) “I want to spend time with my family. I’ve a 4 year-old daughter and a baby boy arriving in 4 weeks. My wife was a ski-racer, so she understands and has been tolerant, but now I need to spend time with her and the children. I’m still assembling the jigsaw of other opportunities; I will certainly look to give something back to ski-racing that’s for sure but I don’t want to be away so much – at least for the time being. I will be doing commentary and media and there are other irons in the fire, so we’ll see.”
Q) And will you start your children skiing on dry slopes? “Yes, I sure will. They can begin on dry slopes and indoor snow before they progress to the mountains. It served me well!”
One thing we know about Dave is that whatever he does he will look to apply himself 100%. He knows he is always welcome to visit Teddington for the park run.
He’s got 10 seconds to shave off his time and he’s not the sort of chap to let that rest!