Feel fit at Barberton parkrun
First introduced to South Africa by nine-time Comrades Marathon champion Bruce Fordyce in November 2011, the sociable, hassle-free, open-to-all parkrun concept has taken off in Barberton.
It was officially launched on Saturday.
According to Fordyce, Paul Sitton-Hewitt, one of his seconds in his Comrades glory days in the 1980s, had introduced him to it.
“I went over to run the London Marathon in 2011 and Sitton-Hewitt invited me to come and do a parkrun at Bushy Park the day before,” Fordyce said. “I did that and immediately thought, what a great concept and said, ‘Paul, I’ve got to take it to South Africa’, and he said, ‘That’s why I invited you’,” added Fordyce.
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Compared to a typical running event, parkrun has many advantages. It does not cost participants any money, there are no registration fees or licence numbers, it is open to all ages and takes place in a safe environment, away from roads. Runners need not belong to a club.
Anke du Toit, event director, said the parkrun will take place every Saturday.
“The aim is to get the community involved and to keep them active. There are walkers and runners. It’s a timed race, no winners at all,” she said. From now to August, the races will start at 08:00 and from September to April at 07:00,” she said.
To register for the parkrun, visit www.parkrun.co.za.
