The phenomenon of parkrun has taken South Africa by storm. Brought to South Africa by running legend, Bruce Fordyce, the past five years have seen these Saturday morning park-run events spring up around the country. There are 84 parkrun locations around South Africa with new venues opening every few weeks.
Two years ago, Parys parkrun opened and last Saturday the event celebrated its 100th consecutive event with 165 participants who completed the 5km route in perfect conditions.
Local numbers were boosted by visitors from nearby Potchefstroom and Sasolburg as well as Johannesburg.
This marks the highest number of participants ever at the Parys parkrun.
At the finish, a festive atmosphere and delicious cupcakes baked by regular participants made for a memorable celebration.
Parkrun events are open to everyone Z   young, old, fast, slow, runners and walkers. Every parkrun course is 5 km in distance and events are held every Saturday morning at 08:00. Participation is free and registered  parkrunners receive an email after every    parkrun that includes their time, the number of parkruns completed and age category position.
After 10 parkruns, children are awarded a Club 10 certificate, signed by Bruce Fordyce, and at the significant milestones of 50 and 100 parkruns completed, parkrunners receive spe- cial running tees from parkrun.
With 100 events under its belt, Parys parkrun delights in celebrating the milestone achievements of local participants. At the end of August, Louis van Rensburg celebrated his 100th parkrun in Parys.
There are now almost 15 regular participants from Parys who have completed 50 parkruns and many others are fast approaching this special target.
Even though the event is called ‘parkrun’, walkers make up the majority of the participants.
Parys also welcomes participants pushing baby joggers as well as dogs (one dog per person and dogs must be on a leash at all times).
Parys parkrun started on 8 November 2014 and, since then, 1 469 different runners have completed an accumulative 6 378 runs covering a total distance of 31 890 kilometres!
On Saturday, 5 November 2016, Parys   parkrun will celebrate its second birthday and on Tuesday, 8 November 2016, it will celebrate its ‘birthday day’ with an unofficial, untimed parkrun starting at 17:30. Everyone is    welcome.
Visit Parys parkrun on Facebook at www.facebook.com/parysparkrun and the page on the parkrun website at www.parkrun.co.za/parys.