By Shelby Brooks
People who frequent Berwick’s Wilson Botanic Park are probably familiar with Peter Fleming’s beaming smile.
At 90 years young, Peter makes sure he waves and says hello to everyone and their dog as he passes them on the walking track.
His greetings also include forms of encouragement, such as “you can do it” and “keep it up”.
Peter visits the park every day to pick up rubbish and enjoy the outdoor exercise.
His daily routine began 15 years ago when he moved less than 300m away from the park.
“I thought it was a beautiful place and shouldn’t be dirty,” he said.
“I clean it up, I take a bag and pick up the dog poo and lolly wrappers.”
Peter has been a passionate runner for many years, having picked up the hobby at 40 around the Tan at the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens.
“So I’ve been running for 50 years,” he said.
“But I haven’t been able to run in the last five years because my knee has been playing up.”
When Peter discovered the park full of runners on Saturday mornings for Parkrun, he discovered a new way to enjoy his passion of running.
“I decided to walk in the opposite direction and meet everyone who runs past,” he said.
“I say, ‘good on you, keep it going’. I cheer them up. Someone said once, ‘you got me out of bed this morning’.
“I know them by their faces, most of them give me a high five. It’s good at 90 to have a whole lot of friends.”
Peter is always thrilled to see his smiles returned on the faces of the runners.
“Encouragement is important when you run because you might be by yourself or just a small group of people,” he said.
“I’ve got plenty of time – that’s one thing I have a lot of.”
But it’s not just people who are running that Peter likes to encourage.
“I cheer them on whether they are runners or not, they all know me,” he said.
“It’s not just the walking, my aim in life is to make other people happy.
“If they can walk past smiling, they’re happy. Smiles cost you practically nothing but it invests a lot in the person because they smile back to you.
“And if you talk to the dogs, the people talk to you – the dogs are better than the people!”
