IT was a fun morning out for more than 30 000 people on Sunday who took part in the 2014 Discovery East Coast Radio Big Walk.
Families and friends, professionals and casual walkers, corporates and colleagues, veterans and first-timers, all spent an enjoyable morning together, along Durban’s promenade, from uShaka Marine World to the finish at People's Park.
East Coast Radio’s General Manager, Trish Taylor, said: “Every time we host the Discovery East Coast Radio Big Walk I am left humbled and amazed. This year, even more so. Watching more than 30,000 people from all over KZN together celebrating the magnificence of Durban’s coastline was testament to our Big Walk To Freedom theme. A massive thank you to each and every one of you for helping us grow the Discovery East Coast Radio Big Walk into the biggest outdoor participative event in KZN and for making the day absolutely epic!”
This year’s four-distance event yielded some interesting facts including that the most number of entrants (5338) to this year’s Discovery East Coast Radio Big Walk were under the age of 19. On the other end of the scale, this year there was 193 participants who are over the age of 70. The distance that attracted the most number of entries was the 5km walk – the same as last year, with 15962 people signing up for the 5km event this year. Almost twice as many women (61.2 per cent) as men (38.7 per cent) took part in this year’s event.
The Discovery East Coast Radio Big Walk has evolved significantly since the first walk in 2004. A total of 1800 people took part back then. Over the years the event has turned into one of the most anticipated family fun events on the KZN social calendar. And the times reflect this too, with #bigwalkdurban trending on Twitter nationally.