Brakpan’s Clyde Locker showed his dedication to his fitness when he ran his 100th parkrun on Saturday.
“It would have been sooner if it wasn’t for Covid,” he said.
Locker remembers how he got interested in the weekly run in the early days.
“I saw it starting up all over the place. I started running a bit and then my older brother was running parkruns with his wife and my sister and her husband also joined.
“I was looking for a local parkrun. I did my very first parkrun in Boksburg. When they announced the parkrun in Brakpan I made the switch.”
The local man enjoys his weekly run.
“It’s a destresser and it’s good for your fitness. You get personal gain and all the other benefits you get from running or walking. Some people need to get out just to walk or run. You don’t always have to run it. Walking is an option.”
Although he has done so many runs on his Saturdays, he does admit that it is not always easy to get out for the weekly event.
“Sometimes you wake up and contemplate ‘should I, shouldn’t I’ and you decide ‘I’ve got to do this’. So you get up, get dressed and go for that run,” he told the Brakpan Herald.
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There have also been difficult conditions in the parkrun.
“It can depend on the terrain. The rainy season leads to squishy grass and mud. It tires you out quicker. In winter you’ve got to deal with the chill factor,” he said.
Saturday’s run was not only special because it was Locker’s 100th run but he also finished first and broke his personal best. He ran in a time of 27:14 minutes.
This weekend he will complete another personal milestone as it will be the 100th time he runs in Brakpan.
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Locker’s passion for the parkrun is evident as he talks about long-distance running legend Bruce Fordyce’s involvement in it.
“Fordyce originally helped to bring it into the country. It was started overseas. People don’t have to sit at home on a Saturday morning.
“They can get out and go breathe the air. Walk or run. It just helps clear the mind. It can also be a launchpad to get into their running,” said Locker.
