Vounteers at the Polokwane Parkrun. Susan le Roux (Parkrun, organiser), Martha Chuene-Masopoga (Mrs Polokwane, finalist and volunteer), Claudette Olivier (Mrs Polokwane finalist and volunteer), Irene Schempers (Mrs Polokwane 2017 and volunteer) and Hilda Jonker (Mrs Polokwane, finalist and volunteer).
POLOKWANE – Every Saturday morning, runners and walkers gather at the Parkrun park on the corner of Landdros Maré and Potgieter Avenue.
Parkrun is an initiative founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt in 2004.
Parkrun is a 5 km run, or walk, that takes place every Saturday and it is free of charge.
There are volunteers who assist with time keeping, handing out tokens, scanning, and sweepers (those running behind the runners). These volunteers help make this event possible as the runners cannot claim time or Discovery points without these volunteers’ assistance.
“We are in need of volunteers and I’m certain that if every runner volunteers at least once a year, we would have more than enough volunteers,” says Mrs Polokwane 2017, Irene Schempers, one of the volunteers at Parkrun.
Schempers often volunteers at the Parkrun and encourages others to do the same.
Raeesa Sempe is a Caxton Award-winning Digital Editor with nine years’ experience in the industry. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Media Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand and started her journey as a community journalist for the Polokwane Review in 2015. She then became the online journalist for the Review in 2016 where she excelled in solidifying the Review’s digital footprint through Facebook lives, content creation and marketing campaigns. Raeesa then moved on to become the News Editor of the Bonus Review in 2019 and scooped up the Editorial Employee of the Year award in the same year. She is the current Digital Editor of the Polokwane Review-Observer, a position she takes pride in. Raeesa is married with one child and enjoys spending time with friends, listening to music and baking – when she has the time. “I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon." – Tom Stoppard
