Pirates run 303 miles

A fundraiser for Pirates Road Running saw 97 people run around their homes in a virtual relay over 24 hours, and far exceed their targets in distance and funding.

The target was to complete 100 miles (161km) between them, with two people running at the same time in half an hour slots from 2pm on 25 April until the same time the next day.

But enthusiasm for keeping the club afloat gave runners impetus to go faster and further than they expected, reaching a whopping 303 miles (489km) in the 24 hours.

“We are still calculating how much money was raised, as we ran much more than we planned. We estimate it will be more than R70 000,” said the running club’s chairperson, Natalie Mills.

“Some runners went the extra mile, such as Johan Botes who ran the whole 100 miles in 34 hours and brainchild behind the initiative, David Case, who ran 10 minutes for every half hour to keep his fellow Pirates company.”

She said the support by Pirates Sports Club members and the greater community, was immense.”There was a lot of negativity during the lockdown and our committee decided it wanted to do something to uplift everyone. When David Case had the idea, people got very excited about it.”

The money raised will go to Pirates Road Running and its development fund, which supports development runners.”We usually have a reverse run of our 21km in May as a fundraiser for our development runners, but that was cancelled.”

Mills said Pirates Sports Club has taken a financial knock as a result of the lockdown but still needs to meet its overheads and staff salaries. Despite this, the club has since organised two food drop-offs during the lockdown for charities.

There is also a #PintsForPirates campaign where members of the public can pay for a drink which they will not receive but the money for which will go towards the maintenance of the club.Details: Pirates Sports Club info@piratesclub.co.za; 011 646 5025.