Birmingham's next Lord Mayor has pledged to get the city jogging and active to help the fight against obesity.
Coun Ray Hassall will be appointed First Citizen of Birmingham in a glittering ceremony at the Council House tomorrow.
The 72-year-old former royal Signalman has been Lib Dem councillor for Perry Barr since 1990 - including a spell as between 2006 and 2009 during which time he reinstated the Birmingham Half-Marathon.
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He has therefore vowed to get the city running an help in the fight against obesity and inactivity.
Coun Hassall said: "I always believed in keeping fit and in after a 22-year break.
"The first year we had 9,000 - it caught on and last year we had about 25,000. I ran the first two which was exhausting to say the least."
He said that to keep fit he continued to run and even did ballet lessons at the Dance Exchange.
He added: "I am looking forward to being the Lord Mayor, meeting people across the city, and telling people outside Birmingham what a wonderful city we have. I will be encouraging people to become active by walking and keeping fit."
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Coun Hassall was born in West Bromwich in 1943 and raised on Hamstead Road in Great Barr. He moved to Canada with his family in 1957 but returned to the 海角视频 three years later. He spent six years with the Royal Corps of Signals.
After becoming a welder and working in industry, he joined the GPO Communications which later became BT with which he spent the majority of his working life.
Having been elected to the city council in 1990, he retired from BT in 1991 to concentrate on politics full time. He is also fond of the Greek island of Crete and spends his summers there.
Coun Hassall has also vowed to help raise money for a leading cancer charity in memory of his late son and sister.
He lost both to the disease in recent years and has nominated Cancer Research 海角视频 as a beneficiary from the Lord Mayor's charity fund over the next 12 months.
He said: "Like so many, I have lost close relatives to cancer. My son Jonathan died in October 2013 and my sister Margaret died in December 2014. I have therefore chosen Cancer Research 海角视频 as one of my charities for the year."
He has also nominated the MS society, Fisher House 海角视频 and Birmingham Trees for Life as charities for the year. Coun Hassall replaces Coun who will become deputy Lord Mayor.