Run Alex Athletics Club receives timely financial boost
Alexandra’s fastest growing running club, Run Alex Athletics Club, has received a timely financial lifeline from the Absa Run Your City Series’ Joburg leg.
Alexandra’s fledgling and cash-strapped athletics club have received a timely boost to shore up its township runner development programmes.
This was confirmed by Run Alex Athletics Club’s secretary general Nokuthula Thomas in an interview with Alex News soon after the handover of a dummy cheque of R125 000.
The cheque donation follows a commitment made by Absa as the partner of the Run Your City Series that for every kilometre run by individual runners registered for the series, the bank would donate R1 to the club whose main focus is on the development of youngsters still in primary schools.
With the highest intake of runners for the three-city series, which includes Cape Town and Durban, the Joburg leg attracted 11 000 runners and hence the money raised totalled R125 000.
Absa Group’s managing executive for SME business Ronnie Mbatsane said the bank was delighted to have been able to extend a helping hand to the fledgling club whose work in the community of Alexandra and the impact it has made, speaks for itself.
On behalf of the club, Thomas, who described Run Alex as the fastest-growing club officially registered with Central Gauteng Athletics in late 2020, said the club had 64 development children in its books.
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“We’re so excited with the donation as a vibrant and ambitious club and we believe the donation will go a long way toward the running of the club and ensuring that young runners participate and are bussed to development events and are also well catered for.
“Absa must feel free to call on us and peruse our books to satisfy itself that the money donated was put into good use in the development of the young children who are our future stars,” Thomas said.
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Thomas also spoke about the poverty engulfing the township and said some of the food the club provides to the children at running events are the only meal they will probably have for the day.
“Most of the children do not have running shoes as parents cannot afford them and the little runners have to exchange them between themselves from race to race,” she said.
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