Former Comrades Marathon participant and parkrunner Thelma Fouché recently celebrated her 90th birthday.
On her birthday, Thelma invited 57 guests to come celebrate this beautiful day with her and among the well-wishers was nine-times Comrades Marathon winner and pioneer of parkrun in Roodepoort, Bruce Fordyce, who sent a heartfelt message.
“I felt incredibly special and honoured when they played me that message from Bruce on screen. I never expected such recognition from Bruce because I’m just an ordinary person,” she said.
Grateful for reaching this milestone age in good health, Thelma expressed her joy at being able to continue pursuing her hobbies which include knitting, tennis, chess, and word puzzles. Her birthday cake was adorned with symbols representing these beloved pastimes.
She started running the Comrades Marathon at the age of 48, and she received her first green number in 1992.
“Back in Port Elizabeth, when I used to stay there, I used to run to my friend’s house, and then we would play chess, and then I would come back running. When I moved here, I joined the Golden Riff Club in 1977, and that’s where I started running professionally,” she said.
She then started the 5km weekly par runs at Len Rutter Park in 2012 and said she was always quite fast for her age, which meant that she did not have a lot of competition in her age group because not a lot of people her age still ran.
Thelma ran and never looked back, but that was until 2019 when she had to get a hip operation. But that didn’t stop her from fulfilling her mission in the running game, because even to date, she still goes and volunteers at the weekly parkruns as a marshal. She has completed a total of 233 parkruns in her journey.
“I feel good that God is still using me to go to the parkruns and encourage everyone to not give up. You are never too old to help people and still make a difference,” she said.
Her advice to other people is that the running game is simple, “Never take off like a bullet; build up slowly.”
