Wood first took part in October 2004 and has regularly participated in the free weekly event ever since.
He had been struggling with his mental health over debts and the break-up of his marriage breakup.
But when he went to parkrun “everything felt normal”, he said, adding: “I wasn’t judged any more, I could just be me and I could talk to people and explain how I was feeling.”
Wood, who is 36 parkruns ahead of his closest rival, said the attention around being the first to 1,000 has been “a little bit overwhelming” but added it was “just a nice celebration”.
“Parkrun is inclusive for everyone,” he said.
“Everyone is welcome and it will change and save lives if we can get more and more people involved.
“Because parkrun has changed and saved my life and it will do that for others, I would almost guarantee that.”