Atholl Parkrun celebrates 200th event

Atholl Parkrun participants hosted and celebrated their 200th park run at Winston Ridge Park on September 9.

Founder of the Atholl parkrun, Jean Baillie said the event began in March 2018 and was suspended for 20 months due to the pandemic.

“I decided to start the parkrun because I am a resident in the area and I wanted to bring the community into the park because it was a neglected space so I decided to approach Parkrun South Africa and asked if there could be a parkrun event at the park and here, we are 200th park runs later.”

Baillie added that the parkrun is hosted every Saturday at 08:00 and the event has grown over the years and now sees 200 people a week.

Christopher Ferguson, who completed his 300th parkrun at Atholl on September 9 added that he was a marathon runner until he was invited by a friend to a local parkrun.

“I met the friend who invited me to a marathon race, and she invited me to Delta Park for the park run and the bug bit me ever since. I started with comrades and now I only do parkrun and travel throughout the country doing parkrun and I have done 145 different parkrun events.”

Mergan Govender, who undertook his 250th parkrun, said he began running for health reasons.

“Subsequently to joining parkrun for health reasons, I have been enjoying parkrun immensely and have recruited my family members as well.”

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Locals showed up in droves at the Parkview-based zoo for the monthly morning runs and walk