Tragedy struck the local fitness community this morning after a 37-year-old parkrunner had to be humanely euthanised halfway through his Kenny Res run, following a devastating broken leg sustained last weekend.
Witnesses say the man, identified only as Trent, was 4.5 kilometres into the weekly Bendigo parkrun when he tripped over a rogue pine cone and immediately began rolling on the ground in pain “like a wounded gazelle.”
“He tried to keep going,” said Marshal Carol. “But when his pace dropped above 7 minutes per kilometre, we all knew it was over. There's no coming back from that.”
Event organisers say the decision to put Trent down was made “swiftly and compassionately,” citing parkrun’s policy of sparing participants unnecessary suffering.
“We followed standard horse racing procedures,” said Parkrun director Greg Legday. “We threw a tarp over him, said a few words, and gave him a final barcode scan with a shotty.”
Bystanders claim it was the kind of send-off he would’ve wanted - surrounded by Lycra-clad strangers clapping politely while someone played Chariots of Fire on a Bluetooth speaker.
Parkrun officials later confirmed Trent’s ashes will be scattered along the Kennington Reservoir trail, and a memorial Strava segment named “Trent’s Last Lap” will be added in his honour.
When asked for comment, Trent’s Garmin watch reportedly still believes he’s “paused” and waiting to resume.
