Hundreds of people will pound the streets in this Sunday’s Cumbrian Run half marathon. Deryck Hutchinson will not be among them. But go easy on him – he has completed it 19 times.

Deryck has run quite a lot of half marathons – 245, to be precise. There have also been 59 full marathons. Number 60 will be at Lake Maggiore, Italy, in two weeks, which is why Deryck is missing this year’s Cumbrian Run.

He took up running in 1985, at the age of 19, to lose weight. He was 14st 2lb. Now he’s 11st.

Running has given Deryck fitness and something else very important: memories.

The walls of his flat near Carlisle city centre are covered in paintings and photographs of places he has raced.

“This is even better than Tullie House!” he smiles, gesturing at his art gallery.

“It’s amazing where I’ve been. I like going where there’s a cathedral, castle or abbey.”

His pictures tell that story: Worcester Cathedral, Chester Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral.

And there’s a photograph of Deryck with the Leaning Tower of Pisa behind him.

“I like running very much,” he says. “It gets me out to different places.

“I did the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromso, Norway. I’d never even heard of Tromso. In June there are 24 hours of daylight.

“I liked Milan. You go past the cathedral, or ‘duomo’ as they call it. In Berlin you go under the Brandenburg Gate. In Venice you see Saint Mark’s Cathedral.

“Naples is a nice city to go to. I have learned Italian. I’ve run several times in Italy. It’s my favourite country.”

For all his travels, Deryck must be among the best-known people in his hometown.

Thousands who don’t know his name regularly see him running in and around Carlisle. He usually runs five days a week. And his clothing and hairstyle make Deryck difficult to miss.

His favourite colour is pink, which will not come as a huge surprise to those who have seen him run.

In summer he often wears a pink vest, pink shorts and pink sunglasses.

In winter he adds a pink hat and pink fleece.

And all year round: pink hair.

“People come up to me and ask me for a selfie when they see I’m all in pink,” he says.

“Last year some of them suggested I should dye my hair pink.”

Deryck mentions when and where he bought his first pink shorts and T-shirt. The shorts were from Asda and the T-shirt from River Island, both bought on the same Friday in July 2011.

How can he remember? It turns out that Deryck can remember just about everything, including directions to all his races.

“I don’t need sat nav – I can just get in my car and go,” he says.

Deryck’s races are listed on his computer in alphabetical order, from Aberdeen to York.

This tells us that he did the Truro half marathon in 2004.

Ok, Deryck: how do you get from Carlisle to Truro?

With no hesitation, he explains: “Take the M6 until you reach junction 8. Then take the M5. Then the A30, bypassing Okehampton and Bodmin, then take the A39 and Truro is about five miles south.”

How on earth does he do it?

“I think it’s from my father – he had a good memory. I can tell you all the postcodes of the UK. Walsall is ‘WS’. Wolverhampton is ‘WV’.

“I only have to read them a couple of times. It’s like a photographic memory.”

Structure and routine are important to Deryck. He runs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. And occasionally Fridays.

He also attends Body Pump and Body Balance classes at the Sands Centre.

His Monday and Thursday runs are with the Sands running club.

“It’s getting out and about, keeping yourself fit in nice fresh air. It’s better than going into a gym. I find a gym too stuffy.”

Deryck’s longest training runs are on Wednesdays – between seven and 12 miles – and Saturdays: 13 to 21 miles.

“I go out in all weathers. If you get caught in the rain you just have to grin and bear it. I can go for a long time on a good day. I just let my mind go blank. It’s a good way to relax. It’s better when you’re in a group. I enjoy the social side.”

Deryck used to work at Carlisle’s RAF base, 14MU, which closed in 1996.

He currently has a temporary job delivering Kleeneze catalogues and would like to do something in admin or warehousing.

Deryck has raised more than £2,000 for charity through sponsorship of his races.

He calculates that all his races and training runs add up to about 125,000 miles of pavement pounding. That’s five times around the world.

He would like to run through much more of it. Copenhagen, Stockholm and Vienna are among the cities he hopes to race in.

“I feel like running has kept me fit and healthy,” he says. “It’s taken me to various different places in Europe and the UK. I’ve always liked visiting different places.”

Deryck’s best time for a marathon is four hours 33 minutes (Amsterdam, 1993).

His best time for a half marathon is one hour 28 minutes (Wrexham, 1996).

Between the pictures of the places where he’s run, Deryck’s walls have room for 10 display boards covered in medals, for taking part rather than winning.

Completing the race is more important to Deryck than the number of people who crossed the line before him.

“It’s a matter of finishing and doing a good time. When you get finished there’s a medal, a T-shirt and a goodie bag waiting for you. That’s what I think about.

“Five hours is the longest I’ve done a race. I always finish. I’ve never conked out.”

This weekend the Cumbrian Run’s winner will enjoy plenty of admiration. And let’s hear it for the running world’s Deryck Hutchinsons. Never at the front. But never giving up.