Community keeps it moving

The 5km run was launched in April last year.

At the launch event, Comrades marathon legend and founding director of Parkrun SA, Bruce Fordyce was suprised to be knocked off his usual top 10 finish by a highly competitive group of young, relatively unknown runners from Diepsloot.

Fordyce predicted that the challenging two-lap course under the shadow of the beautiful Lonehill koppie would attract plenty of runners and walkers of all abilities, and this prediction has certainly come true.

Lonehill parkrun has already produced a success story. Pule Petrus Maeko, a runner from Diepsloot was spotted shoeless at the front of the field of a few Lonehill parkrun events by local runner, Marcel Viljoen who has decided to mentor him.

Within 10 weeks of its launch, Lonehill parkrun was commended for being one of the top crowd-pulling parkrun venues in the world.

At the beginning of this year they had more than 6 000 parkrunners signed up.

Ward 94 councillor John Mendelsohn attended a parkrun to see what all the fuss was about and said, “I have never seen such a big crowd of happy people at an event.” Mendelsohn has now become a volunteer at the weekly event.

The volunteers are led by 75-year-old George Joubert, 10-time Comrades runner. They ensure the park is in great condition every Saturday. They also marshall the race, keep time and process hundreds of parkrunners before each event.

Parkrun director and ThinkCommunity founder, Trevor Nel, also a 10 time Comrades runner, said the important community structures in Lonehill such as the Lonehill Residents’ Association, local businesses and the Douglasdale police were contributing to the success of the event.

“This is one of the most successful regular community social events with some of the most appreciative smiling spontaneous crowds of people I’ve ever witnessed,” Nel said.

The Lonehill parkrun takes place every Saturday morning at 8am in the Lonehill Park.

Do you do the Lonehill parkrun regularly? Tweet us your photos @Fourways_Review