A run for the masses

Soon every person and dog in Randburg will run around Delta Park every Saturday morning. This is because the weekly Delta Parkrun is one of the most popular parkruns in Johannesburg. Between 500 and 700 people currently run or walk the 5km route in the park every week. Delta Parkrun was the first parkrun established in South Africa, and will be three years old in November.

Now there are about 40 parkruns in the country with about 10 000 registered runners. “This is one of the biggest parkruns in Johannesburg and one of the more popular ones in South Africa,” says Cara Fordyce. Fordyce and her parents Gill and Bruce Fordyce (the legendary Comrades Marathon serial-winner) first brought parkrun to South Africa. Cara spoke at the run on 4 October, which was the day Parkrun celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Parkruns are free, 5km group runs in parks around the world. Participants can take their dogs on lead, and choose their own pace. Residents can register on the parkrun website (https://www.parkrun.co.za) for a barcode that will allow them to receive information such as times, positions, age-graded scores and other information. Discovery Medical Aid points are awarded per run.

“People are getting active these days,” says Delta Parkrun event director Mike Demos. He adds that the Delta Parkrun is convenient but challenging and more and more residents are participating in it because it is free, running in numbers is safer, residents can take their dogs, and they can walk and enjoy the sights of the park. “This is a run to enjoy, not a race,” he says.

George Ashworth finished his 100th parkrun on the day. “I enjoy parkrun,” he says. “There is no pressure but I still try my best.” Clinton van der Berg says that he loves the vibe and casualness of the run. Rita and Nick Loots participate because it is “off-road and fun”. Teigue Payne says that he runs faster at parkrun because he runs with people and his time is recorded.

Details: Delta Parkrun volunteers deltahelpers@parkrun.com