Hundreds show up for the opening of Reeds Park Run
The route, meandering through a rough veld alongside the N1 highway, has been described by some veteran park runners as “technical”.
A large group of enthusiastic runners gathered for the opening of Pretoria’s latest Park Run route at The Reeds on October 8.
The event joins several others in Pretoria, which are run every Saturday at the Botanical Gardens, Valhalla, Bronberrik and Hillside.
Runners in The Reeds have long felt the need to have their own venue and identified this open veld as suitable.
After months of work getting permissions in place, planning the route to be the required 5km and hard work by a dedicated team of volunteers, it came together and the runners were able to show their mettle on the course.
The chairperson of the volunteer group, Henriette Frohlich, expressed her satisfaction with the launch event.
“We were thrilled with the turnout. A total of 329 park runners crossed the finish line, supported by a committed team of 15 volunteers,” Frohlich said.
“Park runners started congregating at the starting point from 07:00, to ensure prime positions at the starting line. Many experienced park runners love to be at the opening of a new route, to try it out and also be able to add another notch to their belts.
“The feedback was very positive and many promised to return this Saturday.”
The event was attended by Park Run Gauteng ambassador Chris Sutton as well as Evaristo De Aguiar, local area Park Run ambassador from Midstream.
“Bruce Fordyce, South Africa’s Park Run founder, will join us in a few weeks,” Frohlich said.
Runners at the finish line agreed that “this one is not for sissies”.
The route, meandering through a rough veld alongside the N1 highway, has been described by some veteran park runners as “technical”.
It is a far cry from flat tarred roads. And meant to be challenging. No doubt those who choose this as their “home venue” will come to count among the toughest of the tough.
An 83-year-old runner, Oom Peet, travelled all the way from Vanderbijlpark to participate in this run. He has done 100 different routes and agreed that this was one of the most challenging ones.
There are currently 195 Park Run locations in the country.
They are run every Saturday morning with about 825 909 participants nationwide.
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