This Saturday, August 31, will be a red letter – or perhaps a blue letter – day for the popular Uvongo parkrun.
It will be celebrating its 500th event since its inception on May 11, 2013.
On that day, 26 people lined up to complete the brand new parkrun course. First man home was James Mellors, and the first woman home was the Herald’s Shona Aylward.
A number of starters on that day have stayed the course to become parkrun addicts.
Although, worldwide, the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the global movement, parkrun quickly started to gain momentum once the pandemic was over and on most Saturdays, Uvongo parkrun hosts between 200 and 250 runners, joggers, walkers and strollers of all ages, backgrounds and physical abilities.
Altogether 16 000 people have done at least one Uvongo parkrun, and there have been a total of 108 000 finishes. Parkrunners have clocked up new personal bests 23 687 times.
Its scenic shoreline route has made Uvongo a very popular parkrun and is near the top of the must-do list for many inland parkrunners.
The global parkrun movement is much more than a keep fit initiative. It is very inclusive, absolutely free and always is a very sociable activity. It adds an element of fun to any keep-fit routine. Worldwide, parkruns are held at numerous park-like spots every Saturday morning. Uvongo parkrun starts at 08:00.
Various incentives encourage parkrunners to keep involved in the movement. After completing 50 parkruns, they are awarded a red shirt. A total of 100 and 250 parkruns under their belt will earn park runners black and green shirts, respectively.
The biggest milestone, however, is the 500 runs total, for which parkrunners will earn a much-coveted blue shirt. For this reason, Uvongo will be going blue this Saturday, and all participants are asked to wear blue in honour of Uvongo’s 500th run.
Coincidentally, Bushy Park in the UK, the first ever parkrun to open worldwide, celebrates its 1000th parkrun this Saturday.
And Delta, South Africa’s first parkrun, celebrates its 600th.
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