Fordyce canvasses to resume parkruns

Seven months after popular weekly parkruns were suspended, organisers said they are determined to relaunch the events by the end of the year, but they’ve still got some hurdles to clear.

Local parkrun founder Bruce Fordyce admitted at the weekend he was frustrated by the lengthy hiatus.

“It’s absolutely vital for parkruns to restart, so we’re role players as much as we can,” said the record nine-time Comrades Marathon winner.

Fordyce this week meets with decisionmakers to find a solution.

“We will, of course, follow government health and safety regulations, but we are determined to start before the end of the year and we’re lobbying hard,” he said.

“I was at Eldorado Park on Saturday, where they really want a parkrun, and I would estimate that a couple of hundred people from the community arrived.”

To proceed, however, organisers needed to find a way to host events without exceeding government-enforced limitations.

According to Level 1 lockdown regulations, up to 500 people could attend an outdoor gathering, provided health and safety protocols were followed.

While similar myrun social events had resumed this month, with rolling starts and a screening processes being used, the weekly Sunday runs hosted smaller fields than parkruns, which had attracted over 770,000 people to its 225 events around SA since the local franchise was started in November 2011.

If they opened only the smaller parkruns, which usually attracted fewer individuals, people from other areas might flock to them.

Fordyce was confident they could find a way forward.

“Unfortunately, parkrun is a victim of its own success,” he said. “But there are ways of doing it and I think we’re nearly there.”

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