LCpl Dennis Davey is no ordinary man. He is a serial medal winner, a founder of the Cove Joggers running club and a legendary runner who spent time in the armed forces.
To celebrate Armed Forces week on Tuesday, June 25 WO1 Sharon Smith and Major Carl Smith who both know Dennis very well organised a special ceremony that brought together the armed forces, runners and family alongside Tilford Care Home to award Dennis with a medal for his service to the armed forces.
Dennis joined the Royal Corps of Signals in Catterick aged 19 and travelled the world with forces to places such as Brunei, Cyprus and Singapore. During his service, Dennis completed his P Coy and was awarded his para wings.
While he may not be able to run as fast now in his day he would have beaten anyone his age. He completed the Marathon in 2011 and 2014 in under 7 hours in his 80s. Between 2010 - 2019 Dennis ran a total of 260 park runs with the Cove Joggers.
Residents and staff enjoyed food, music and fun as Natasha from Get Happy Productions performed classic songs prompting residents and staff to come together and dance.
Members of the armed forces, Cove Joggers all shared stories of Dennis and it was abundantly clear that he was obsessed with running and that is what he was best known for one friend of Dennis said “ I even remember the first time I went past him in a race, I got all excited as he was but I expected him to come flying past me seconds later as he was very competitive”.
The medal goes along with hundreds of other medals he has acquired from several races across the world including running events across the world in North America, Europe and Asia.
