Hoërskool Randburg teachers run 700km to raise funds for school
Teachers are carried in chairs by learners into the shade, put their feet in ice baths and receive medals and much pampering for their achievements.
A group of teachers were welcomed back to Hoërskool Randburg with deafening cheers, much pampering, and shows of appreciation after they ran from Durban to Joburg to raise money for the school.
The 700km epic journey was not without challenges, including extreme heat, fierce wind, some rain, fatigue, difficult roads and traffic. There were some sore legs by the end of it all but no serious injuries.
The 15 participating teachers, affectionately called ‘trotters’ by the school in their daily updates on social media, arrived at the field with packed stands – learners, family and friends turning up in numbers on September 26, five days after they left Durban.
War cries, medals and certificates, lots of water, ice baths for the feet and even personal fan wavers for each runner demonstrated how appreciative the school was. Every teacher was even placed in a chair and carried into the shade by learners, to show their time of strenuous activity was over.
“I am very proud of them all,” said principal Pieter Booysen. “I spent some time with them between Standerton and Heidelberg and saw what they endured. It is important to note they are normal people, not super athletes. We will never forget what they did.”
The runners completed this journey in shifts so that a couple of teachers travelled over 100km while the rest did 90km. This was divided into three 6km shifts on some days and four 5km shifts on other days so that each day saw each runner record about 20km.
“The main goal was first to complete it and all the runners did that,” said deputy principal and one of the runners, Francois Vosloo. “Nobody sat out a stage or shift they had to run. When we started preparing in January, only one or two of the teachers were serious runners. The rest had just started running. The training throughout the year was very hard but everyone set out to achieve their goals and never give up. Our motto is ’n Randjie gaan lê nooit nie! and that came through from everybody. The spirit was extremely high and there was motivation, etc. It shows what you can achieve if you set your mind to something.”
Vosloo also thanked God for protecting the runners on the road and helping the runners. The support from learners, teachers and parents was also hugely appreciated, he said.
The route went from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, to Mooi River, to Ladysmith, to Newcastle, to Standerton, to Heidelberg and finally to Randburg.
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