Richard Parks facts for kids

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Richard Parks

Birth name	Richard David Parks
Date of birth	(1977-08-14) 14 August 1977 (age 48)
Place of birth	Pontypridd, Wales
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	233 lb (106 kg)
School	Rougemont School Monmouth School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Back row Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1996–1998 1999–2003 2003–2004 2004–2006 2006–2007 2007–2009 Newport Pontypridd Celtic Warriors Leeds Tykes Perpignan Dragons 62 97 24 45 11 30 (10) (0) (0) (10) (0) (5) National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2002–2003 Wales 4 (0)

Richard David Parks (born 14 August 1977) is a former rugby union player from Wales. After his rugby career, he became famous as an extreme endurance athlete and a television presenter.

Richard played professional rugby for 13 years. He played for teams like Newport RFC, Pontypridd RFC, Celtic Warriors, Leeds Tykes, Perpignan, and Newport Gwent Dragons. In May 2009, he had to stop playing rugby because of a shoulder injury.

Richard's Early Life and Rugby Beginnings

Richard Parks was born on August 14, 1977, in Pontypridd, Wales. His mother, Lee, was from Jamaica, and his father, Derek, was Welsh. Richard grew up in Newport. He went to Rougemont School and Monmouth School.

Richard started playing rugby when he was 11 years old at Rougemont School. He quickly became a good player, usually playing as a "flanker" (a position in rugby). He was chosen to play for Welsh Schools at the under-18 level.

Rugby in South Africa

In 1996, Richard spent a year in South Africa at Michaelhouse, a boarding school. He played for the school's top rugby team. He also studied chemistry, hoping to go to Cardiff University to study dentistry.

While in South Africa, Richard was invited to join the Natal Under-19s rugby academy. However, this would have meant going to university in South Africa. Richard wanted to play for Wales, so he decided to return home. He signed his first professional rugby contract with Newport Rugby Football Club.

Playing for Newport RFC

In his first year at Newport RFC (1996–97), Richard was chosen to play for the Welsh sevens team in Tokyo, Japan. The next year, he was asked to train with the main Welsh team. At the end of that season (1997–98), his club named him the most promising player of the year. He won the Arthur Boucher Award.

Richard's third season with Newport RFC was tough because of an injury. He had a "stress fracture" in his spine, which meant he missed most of the season. Because his recovery took longer than expected, he left Newport RFC after playing 62 games. He finished that season playing rugby for Cardiff Meds university team.

Pontypridd and Playing for Wales

After leaving Newport, Richard signed with Pontypridd RFC. In 2001, he played for the Welsh Sevens team in the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Argentina. In 2002, Pontypridd won the Principality Cup and reached the Parker Pen Shield final.

Many players from the Pontypridd team, including Richard, were chosen to play for Wales on a tour to South Africa. Richard played his first full international game for Wales on June 8, 2002. He came on as a substitute in a game against South Africa in Bloemfontein. He was the 1001st player to represent Wales.

During the next season, Richard played his second game for Wales against Fiji. He continued to play for Pontypridd and stayed in the Welsh squad. He was part of the Six Nations squad but did not play in any matches. In the summer of 2003, he was chosen for the first World Cup squad and played warm-up games. However, he was not selected for the final World Cup team that went to Australia.

Playing for Celtic Warriors and Leeds Tykes

In 2003, new regional rugby teams were created in Wales. Richard joined the new team called Celtic Warriors. He played the entire 2003–04 season out of his usual position because other players were injured. He played 19 games for them.

After only one season, the Celtic Warriors team closed down. Richard then joined Leeds Tykes, where the Welsh head coach Phil Davies was working.

Success with Leeds Tykes

Richard had a difficult start to the 2004–05 season at Leeds because of an injury. But he soon became a very important player for the team and was sometimes named "vice captain."

At the start of 2005, Leeds was at the bottom of the Zurich Premiership league. Despite facing the risk of being moved down to a lower league, they reached their first ever Powergen Cup final in 2005. They beat Bath 20–12 at Twickenham to win their first trophy!

After winning the cup, they won five games in a row and avoided being moved down. They finished the season in eighth place. The next season, Leeds lost their first eight games and were moved down to a lower league. Richard then signed with USA Perpignan for the 2006–07 season. However, he didn't get to play much, so he returned to Wales in 2007 to play for the Newport Gwent Dragons.

Newport Gwent Dragons and Retirement

Richard tore his knee ligaments in a game against Cardiff Blues on Boxing Day. This was the start of many injuries that eventually led to him stopping rugby. Early in his second season with the Dragons, he injured his shoulder during a tackle. He kept playing, then had an operation over Christmas to fix it. He returned to play, but his shoulder problem came back.

In May 2009, doctors told him the damage to his shoulder could not be fixed. After a second operation that year, he was advised not to play rugby anymore. He had played 30 games for the Dragons. Richard retired from rugby on May 26, 2009, when he was 31 years old.

The 737 Challenge and Other Adventures

After retiring from rugby, Richard decided to take on an amazing challenge. He aimed to climb the highest mountain on each of the world's seven continents and reach the Three Poles Challenge (North Pole, South Pole, and Mount Everest) all within seven months.

On December 12, 2010, Richard started his journey from Cardiff. This was exactly 100 years after the famous, but difficult, Terra Nova Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott left the same city. Olympic rower Steve Williams and nurse Janet Suart joined Richard for parts of his 737 Challenge.

He completed each part of the 737 Challenge on these dates:

• Leg 1: The South Pole – December 27, 2010
• Leg 2: Mount Vinson – January 8, 2011
• Leg 3: Aconcagua – February 5, 2011
• Leg 4: Kilimanjaro – February 27, 2011
• Leg 5: Carstensz Pyramid – March 15, 2011
• Leg 6: The North Pole – April 11, 2011
• Leg 7: Everest – May 25, 2011
• Leg 8: Denali – June 30, 2011
• Leg 9: Elbrus – July 12, 2011

On July 12, 2011, Richard finished the entire challenge. It took him six months and 11 days!

Skiing to the South Pole

In December 2012, Richard tried to ski alone and without help to the South Pole. He started from Hercules Inlet on the coast of Antarctica. In January, he had to stop because he was not well and the weather was bad.

He returned to Antarctica at the end of 2013. On January 4, 2014, he successfully completed his journey to the South Pole. He skied 1,150 kilometers (715 miles) in 29 days, 19 hours, and 24 minutes. This was the fastest solo journey by a Briton to the South Pole without any help.

TV Documentaries and Presenting

Richard Parks' 737 Challenge was filmed for a BBC Cymru Wales documentary series called "Richard Parks – Conquering the World." It was shown in three parts starting in July 2011. The documentary showed his amazing and inspiring journey. A version of it was also released on iTunes.

In 2014, Richard's first TV series for Channel 5 was broadcast. It followed a year of his training and completing tough endurance races. It also showed his solo ski trip to the South Pole.

In 2016, two more documentaries featuring Richard were made. A three-part series for BBC One Wales and BBC Two, called "Extreme Wales with Richard Parks," was released in September. In October, "Richard Parks on Everest," a 60-minute documentary, showed his progress on Project Everest Cynllun earlier that year.

In 2025, Richard presented a series of short programmes on the Welsh channel S4C. These programmes were about important events in Welsh history. This showed his growing knowledge of the Welsh language.

Awards and Achievements

Richard Parks has received many awards for his achievements:

• 2005 – Won the Powergen Cup/Anglo-Welsh Cup title with Leeds Tykes.
• 2012 – Won the Just Giving Celebrity Fundraiser of the Year award.
• 2012 – Received the Rugby Writers' Club Special Award. Famous rugby figures like Phil Vickery and Sir Clive Woodward had won this before.
• 2012 – Awarded The 'Chancellors Medal' by the University of Glamorgan.
• 2012 – Given an Honorary Fellowship by the University of Wales.
• 2012 – Chosen to carry the Olympic Torch.
• 2012 – Named one of the top 100 most influential people in Wales by Business Insider.
• 2012 – Invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
• 2012 – Won a national CIM Marketing Excellence Award for SME of the year with his design partner Limegreentangerine.
• 2013 – Awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Cardiff University.
• 2018 – Included in a list of 100 Brilliant, Black and Welsh people during Black History Month in the United Kingdom.