Campaign to generate Olympic excitement
South Africa gets behind marathon runners as they head to Tokyo Olympics.
South Africans will come together to cheer on their champions in the Road to the Olympics campaign, in which everyone and anyone is encouraged to put on a pair of running shoes and hit the ground running, so to speak.
The campaign pioneered by Bavaria 0.0 per cent alcohol-free beer, The Nedbank Running Club and The Comrades Marathon, hopes to get South Africa kick-starting the Olympic excitement.
How to participate
The Olympians, such as South Africa’s champion marathon runners Gerda Steyn and Irvette van Zyl, will challenge South Africa to get behind them and contribute the tracked kilometres that are run.
Every kilometre will be added to a virtual tracking board with hashtags and messages of support to try to make up the actual distance of 14 084 kilometres to Tokyo.
It’s a virtual yet touching gesture from regular South Africans to their Olympians who will be competing to win the title without roaring support behind them due to the restrictions around the Covid pandemic.
Comrades Marathon queen Steyn broke the 25-year-old SA marathon record when she finished ninth in Siena‚ Italy‚ in two hours, 25 minutes and 28 seconds in April 2021.
Van Zyl ended 13th in two hours, 28 minutes and 40 seconds to become the 13th South African athlete to obtain a qualifying standard for the Tokyo Olympics.
On May 23, 2021, van Zyl, part of the Nedbank Running Club, went on to smash the 50km world record in style when she won the Nedbank unified women’s race in an unofficial time of three hours, four minutes and 23 seconds, cutting almost three minutes off the previous mark.
Currently, in South Africa, there are 770 000 registered Parkruns and this excludes the unregistered runners and athletes.
There are ample people to get behind this campaign and cover the distance.
With the third wave of the Covid pandemic sweeping across the world, virtual support and immune-boosting exercise are excellent ways to kick-start the Olympic excitement whilst staying safe.
‘This is an opportunity for average South Africans to really make a difference, however small. It’s about bringing community spirit together, in a virtual environment, of course,’ concludes Bavaria marketing lead for Africa, Oliver Wills.
ALSO READ: Skateboarder Brandon Valjalo set to represent SA at Tokyo Olympics
AND
ALSO READ: Former local crosses fingers for spot in World Triathlon
