Local runner raises R31 000 for Wildlands NPO in Comrades Marathon
Joanne van der Walt, a horse rider at Inanda Country Base, is also an avid runner who raises funds for various charities.
An Inanda Country Base horserider in Kyalami once again raised funds for an NPO while running in the Comrades Marathon on August 28.
Taking part in her fifth Comrades, Joanne van der Walt ran for the Wildlands NPO which works with several communities in and around game reserves. The organisation is an official Comrades Marathon charity partner.
“I started fundraising for Wildlands in 2020 but unfortunately for many charities supported by the Comrades Marathon, it was cut short due to Covid-19. So this year, I started from scratch and I’m still fundraising to support the work they do.
“I was hoping to reach a R30 000 target. Protecting the planet and caring for our environment is something I care about very deeply, so raising money for this particular charity came naturally to me,” she said.
Van der Walt finished the race in a personal best time of nine hours and 36 minutes and exceeded her target of R30 000 to R31 000, and said the crowd support on the day was a magical one coming from a two-year hiatus.
She explained some of the work Wildlands did in game reserves.
“One of the reserves they work with is Somkhanda, a Big 5 game reserve that is owned and managed by the community, in partnership with the Gumbi Community Wildlands Conservation Trust, Africa for Africa, Africa4 Wild and Pamco.
“In 2005, the Gumbi community successfully claimed 36 000 hectares of land through the land reform process. When the Gumbi’s took ownership of the land, they decided to keep the majority of their land under conservation and create a consolidated game reserve that could be used as an economic engine to drive development in the community.”
She has also run for other charity organisations such as Hillcrest Aids Trust, World Vision, CHOC (Children’s Haematology Oncology Clinics) and the Sports Trust.
She was full of praise for marathons she has run which have a strong fundraising element such as the London Marathon which had raised more than £1 billion for charities.
“Comrades isn’t quite in that league but it is one of the bigger fundraising athletic events in South Africa. It would be great if more runners dedicated their runs to a charitable cause.
“I know ‘asking’ for money is difficult, but a wise man once said ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get. Charities survive and do the work they do based on donor funding.”
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