The Roodepoort Park Run will join other international park runs as the prestigious franchise celebrates its 13th birthday.
The official park run began in Bushy Park, London, and has lovely events in countries all around the world. The Roodepoort Park Run, the second oldest park run in the country, is a 5km timed event for all athletes, open to elite runners, joggers, and walkers, held at the Len Rutter Park every Saturday morning at 8am.
The Park Run’s event director, Kip Norman gave a brief background to the event:
“The organization has grown phenomenally since its conception in the United Kingdom and has spread throughout the world. Our Park Run is a 5km timed event, that happens every Saturday morning, and it is open to everyone at no cost.”
Norman said this particular park run will be an exciting one as one of their members will reach her 250th race with the organisation.
“Thandi Zililo will be running her milestone 250th park run this Saturday, on International Park Run Day. Thandi has been running in our park run since the event’s inception. Thandi is the third woman and one of the top ten overall athletes in South Africa to achieve this fantastic milestone, and she can now rub shoulders with the great Bruce Fordyce who has also achieved this great feat. We are very proud and privileged to have Thandi as one of our own. It takes a lot of dedication and commitment to reach a 250 milestone run and to commemorate this achievement, Thandi will receive a 250 green milestone t-shirt that has been sponsored by our official apparel sponsor.”
Norman added that since the run is open to all, they welcome young and old to join in on the fun.
“We have children that are as young as six years old, and soon, we will have an 80-year-old who will be completing her 50th park run with us.
We have local sponsorships supporting our cause and we have a strong following with 600 to 800 participants joining us in our runs.
“The event is totally free, however you will need to register on www.parkrun.co.za, print your barcode and bring it along with you to the run. Your results will be published weekly and you will be able to track your progress on a week to week basis. Also, the park run is run on a totally voluntary basis – all we ask for in return is for each park runner to volunteer three times a year” said Norman.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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