Celebrating four years of Ebotse Parkrun
Benonians and East Randers are extremely serious about keeping active and staying fit.
This has been made clear by the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of bodies who congregate at CR Swart Park every Saturday morning, for the ever-growing Ebotse Parkrun.
On the morning of Saturday, June 18, 621 runners and walkers celebrated the fourth anniversary of the 5km, timed event by taking on the course.
One of the participating runners was founder of the Parkrun concept in South Africa, Bruce Fordyce.
The nine-times Comrades Marathon winner and his wife, Gill, brought the initiative to the country and have been astounded by the growth and interest in the weekly runs.
Over 13 000 runners have braved the Ebotse Parkrun over the last four years, a far cry from the smallest ever field of four runners (Martin Cordier, Dawn Vollmer, Peter Hawthorn and Iain Morshead) who finished a flooded course after a massive downpour on April 20, 2013.
The biggest field to date stands at a total of 1 023 Parkrunners, who completed the distance on February 13, this year.
The record for the fastest male runner belongs to Michael Pienaar, who blitzed home in a time of 15 minutes and 48 seconds, while Robyn Kaltenbrunn boasts the female record, with a time of 19 minutes and 37 seconds.
With regard to the growing popularity of Parkrun, Fordyce said: “It works.
“It’s 5km, it’s free and it brings communities together.”
With 80 Parkruns nationwide and 900 weekly events worldwide, runners can take on the 5km route almost wherever they are on the globe, as the timing barcode with which participants are supplied can be scanned at every event.
The running legend addressed the crowd on Saturday morning and praised the die-hard volunteers and sponsors who have made the Ebotse Parkrun a tremendous success.
“Today, we have an event around South Africa which is bigger than the Comrades and Two Oceans marathons in terms of numbers and which is available 52 times a year,” he said.
Before taking on the route, 60-year-old Fordyce warned the younger chargers: “For those who are thinking about going hard today, I just want you to know that I have a bit of a gammy knee and am not running so well nowadays
“So, if you do beat me, please present yourself to the drug testing facility over there.”
Ebotse Parkrun’s event director, Gary Jackson, thanked overall Parkrun sponsors, Mr Price Sport, for supporting the event around the country, as well as Emperors Palace and Lakeside Mall Spur for providing spot prizes on their birthday.
