Bruce Fordyce visits Blairgowrie Primary
BLAIRGOWRIE – Legendary runner inspires children.
The Comrades Marathon king Bruce Fordyce visited Blairgowrie Primary School to encourage teachers, parents and children to take part in a parkrun.
He also awarded Travis Gaul, one of the first juniors of the school to take part in 100 parkruns, with a certificate to mark the achievement.
The nine-time Comrades Marathon winner also congratulated juniors Zubair Patel and Nicola Smith as well as parents Lizl Tanton and Jack Chen who have participated in a parkrun.
Fordyce has pioneered parkrun in South Africa since the inaugural run in 2011 at Delta Park and it has grown tremendously since then. Earlier this year, Fordyce ran his 200 000th kilometre and he looked back on his journey as one of the most successful runners in the country.
“What wonderful adventures I have experienced and friends I have made on this continuing odyssey,” he said. “It began in 1976 with 5km around the Wits University rugby fields. I have [participated] in over 300 marathons, 150 ultra-marathons and countless other races. Best of all has been the fun travel and friendships of parkrun.”
Travis participated in his first parkrun in 2015 and has volunteered at the run 43 times. He has run 83 parkruns at Delta Park and 13 times at other venues. In his 100th run, Gaul clocked a personal best of 00:27:16.
The children at the school have teacher Beth Libby-Neale, who is no stranger to participating in the Comrades Marathon, as a role model to look up to.
She is part of the Comrades Green Number Club, an exclusive club of runners who have competed in more than 10 Comrades Marathon races.
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