By John Henry
You may have heard of parkrun and thought it was a race, but it is not. Here are the facts.
Firstly parkrun is a humble sporting activity for the whole family. It is even registered in lower case letters as parkrun, not Parkrun or PARKRUN.
Secondly, parkrun organises free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They are open to everyone, free, safe and easy to take part in. All ages and all genders are welcome.
There are 206 different events or venues registered to host parkrun events in South Africa, and our local venue is Parys.
These runs take place in pleasant parkland surroundings and people of every ability are encouraged to take part – from walkers to Olympians; from juniors to those with more experience.
You can walk, run, shuffle and jog at your pace.
Thirdly, you may register to receive the official time and get the official results by email. If you do not register, you will not get an official barcode and therefore, it cannot be scanned at the end of the 5km event.
You must register online. You cannot register at a parkrun event. If you do not have access to the internet, get a friend to register you and print out your barcode. The only information required is your name, surname and date of birth (no ID is required). There are no registration fees or annual fees to be paid – it is free forever.
After each completed event, your barcode will be scanned on presentation and recorded as a completed event.
Whenever you complete an event, your information is updated and reflected on the weekly parkrun results page. As your parkruns tally up, you will see your times improve. Essentially, this is your logbook.
We have heard every excuse in the book for not participating and the only valid one is where a medical practitioner has advised against it because of prevailing medical conditions.
Nobody can make you participate but, in Parys, we have hosted blind participants, people on crutches, amputees and even parents pushing kiddies in their buggies.
Oh, yes, you may bring your dogs on leashes to participate too.
We have one of the most beautiful parkrun sites in South Africa, in the area just before the entrance of Mimosa Park. Winter or summer, we are there, welcoming all new participants. Come, see and experience it for yourself.
