Yunus Omar reaches out to the youth through exercise
“My passion is to get the youngsters, with all the negative influences they face daily, to embrace exercise,” Yunus concluded.
Yunus Omar, the friendly face at the parkrun in Standerton, combines his love for running with a deep commitment to better society as a whole.
“I used to run on my own and tried to get my wife, Fadeela to join me,” this ambassador for parkruns in the area said.
“Exercise is a way of giving back to the community.”
Being a run director, involves the nitty-gritty of facilitating the 5km course for all the participants, but wait for it, he is waiting for the athletes completing the last lap with words of encouragement.
“You should finish on a strong note,” is his motto.
At school in Stanwest Combined School he participated in the 800m, 1 500m and shot put, not forgetting the joys on the soccer field.
“I could hold my own at school, but there were more talented players to compete against,” Yunus said.
The Omars’ involvement with the parkrun culminated in Fadeela holding the regional ambassador title, reporting directly to Gill and Bruce Fordyce, the latter being the stalwart of South Africa’s Comrades Marathon.
They first travelled to Secunda to join the runners in our neighbouring town, before Standerton established its own venue at the Standerton River Park.
“Why don’t we begin our own parkrun?” was the topic of their conversations eventually.
Yunus’ best time in Standerton was registered as 28 min.
Although not a serious cyclist, the Omars have been playing around with the idea of beginning to cycle as well, but put that on the back burner once the lockdown came into operation.
Yunus has a fitness regime that incorporates exercise nearly every day.
On a normal day, he would get up at 4.45am because the trip to Sasol on that busy route waits, and go for a run.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays involve 5km, Thursdays he ups the ante and runs 10km, with Saturdays allocated for volunteering at the parkrun.
One maybe can spot him on Sundays on the road to and back from Grootdraai Dam for a 20km.
The work-out at the gymnasium should also not be sneezed at.
He has absolutely no superstitions to follow before an event and wants to involve the future generation in a healthy lifestyle.
Parkrunners would have noticed the number of young people being trained as volunteers.
“My passion is to get the youngsters, with all the negative influences they face daily, to embrace exercise,” Yunus concluded. “If we don’t look after our next generation, who is to blame? “We should not fail them.”
