For most of us, the thought of running 72km is one of utter terror, but one Roodepoort man did not only run this distance, but he did it on a circular circuit in his front yard, for 12 hours, all in the name of charity.
Sameul Cornelius, 38, realised that a lot of people are battling with hunger during the lockdown, and he wanted to do something to help alleviate this. Instead of making a once-off donation in his personal capacity, he decided to do something different.
After seeing a Facebook post of the Cradle of Hope in Krugersdorp pleading for help, he chose this organisation as his beneficiary. His wife shared his plan to run in the front yard for 12 hours in a bid to raise money for the organisation, and she said donations started pouring in even before he started.
At 6am on Thursday, 16 April, he put on his running shorts and shoes, and in high spirits started running a circuit in his front yard. His wife was a diligent supporter and made sure he had company the whole time. Her encouraging him could be heard on the videos.
This was quite a challenge for Sameul (or Sampie as he is affectionately known), not just because of the physical strain on his hips, legs and ankles, but mentally as well, as the route he ran was a relatively small circuit with little change of scenery. Even when it started raining he said, ”I made a promise that I will run for 12 hours, and I am a man of my word. Not even the rain will stand in my way to help our people in need.”
By 6pm, 12 hours after he started this mission, he had run 72,56 km and managed to raise R12 000. But, the donations did not stop coming in when he stopped running. At the end of the day, they were able to help donate R14 000 to the Cradle of Hope.
He concluded by saying, ”I did not do this because I wanted attention or praise. We are all living in difficult times, and I wanted to help make a difference.”
