WHEN asked if she had always been sporty, Linda Coombes let out a big chuckle.

The sporting ability that naturally befell her siblings did not make its way into Mrs Coombes's genes, but she was still determined to keep fit and find a heart-rate lifting exercise she loved.

As the founding director of Warwick Parkrun she has built up her stamina and at the same time, found a sporting community that embraced her.

About 10 years ago Mrs Coombes started running to keep her fitness up and meet new people.

Despite many believing running is a solitary activity, Mrs Coombes has found otherwise.

"I think sport is for anyone, most people will find something that suits them and find their area of enjoyment,” she said.

"I have a group of friends and we meet and run together, even though we're at different speeds it's nice and social.”

Mrs Coombes looked on as her sister-in-law carried the Olympic torch, never thinking she would receive the same honour.

But all that will change on Thursday when she carries the Queen's Baton through Warwick.

"I was honoured to be nominated but it was very exciting to be selected,” Mrs Coombes said.

"It's a once in a lifetime event to be involved with and it's exciting that the Baton is running through Warwick.”

Mrs Coombes not only volunteers her time to help the Warwick sporting community, she oversees parkruns in five other locations including Toowoomba, Goondiwindi and St George.

The worldwide event invites runners to complete a 5km course at 7am on Saturday mornings.

Watching runners stride to new distances and smash personal bests makes the time worthwhile, Mrs Coombes said. "There's one boy who's completing the five kilometres each week and he was a baby in a pram when he started.”

Mrs Coombes will be running down a prime leg of the relay, on Palmerin St between Fitzroy St and Grafton St.