Parkrun South Africa celebrates a million participants

Parkrun South Africa has reached the magnificent milestone of one million people participating in its parkruns.

This was celebrated on November 16 at the Noordwyk Parkrun which is one of the 220 parkruns currently operating in South Africa. The Noordwyk Parkrun has contributed to this fabulous landmark with more than 3 596 people taking part over the two years of its existence.

Event directors of Noordwyk Parkrun, Jeanny Tshukudu and Amina Saber shared their jubilation. Tshukudu said, “We are delighted to have played a small part in contributing to this milestone. It’s such a big number, but parkrun is also about the small things that we see every week – the smiles, the friendships, and the friendly and welcoming community that we have created. And of course, a big thank you to all our fantastic volunteers who make it all possible each week.”

Saber added, “We look forward to welcoming many more new, and previously active, runners at our parkrun events. Come and join us on a Saturday morning. It’s free, it’s friendly, and it doesn’t matter how fast you are. You can walk, jog or run, or come and help out as a volunteer. We hope to see you soon.”

Bruce Fordyce, the President of Parkrun South Africa, was also over the moon to reach this landmark.

“Who could have guessed that when we stood there at the inaugural Delta Parkrun with just 29 participants, that just 13 years later we would see more than one million people join us here in South Africa, incredible. I’m excited to see what’s going to happen next with parkrun in South Africa,” said Fordyce.

Also read: https://www.citizen.co.za/midrand-reporter/news-headlines/2023/05/08/runners-turn-to-parkruns-first-anniversary/

He said many more people would benefit from coming along to parkrun, whether to walk, jog, run or volunteer, and they looked forward to another million South Africans signing up over the next few years.

Fact box and statistics:

• In the first year of parkrun operating in South Africa in 2011, there were eight events.
• This year (2024), there will be more than 10 000.
• The highest-ever year for registrations was 2017 when nearly a quarter of a million people registered for parkrun in South Africa.
• This year’s registration numbers will be the highest since 2019.
• There have been more than 13.4 million finishes across South African parkruns.
• More than 60 000 people have volunteered for Parkrun South Africa.

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