Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 52, November 2013 | Página 35

ea n in your ar parkru Voortrekker parkrun Kicks Off s un milestone parkr Delta parkrun turns 2! On 9 November, Delta parkrun will be celebrating its second birthday. In the beginning, 22 runners gathered on a November morning outside Delta Park’s environmental centre to run the ?rst ever South African parkrun. They were ?rm believers that the concept of free 5km timed runs would catch on – and they were right! Amongst those pioneers were Chris and Jo-Anne, who are now event directors at Modderfontein Reserve parkrun. In addition, Matthew, Dieter, Elton and Robert are now all regulars at other parkruns around South Africa. Two years on, Delta Park parkrun regularly attracts over 300 runners each Saturday morning and has a registered membership of close to 5 000. Several parkrunners have earned their adidas ‘red club 50’ T-shirts for running 50 parkruns, with junior parkrunner Carmen Goncalves recently joining this special group. Tracy Rankin and ‘Delta’ Dieter Meyer are shortly to earn their ‘black club 100’ T-shirts for running their 100th! No parkrun would be possible without the invaluable help of the volunteers who give their time willingly, and a big thank you goes to Darryl Aquadro and Cara Fordyce, who are two event directors who have been associated with the event from the very beginning. And we have no doubt that two years from now, Delta Park, the home of parkrun South Africa, will continue to attract hundreds of parkrunners to run and walk its challenging but fun 5km route. THE STATS Number of locations: 19 Number of events: 670 Number of runners: 17,744 Number of runs: 71,757 Total distance: 358,785km Total run time: 5yrs 103days 0hrs 25mins 36secs Female record: Jenna Challenor (16:35) Male record: Gladwin Mazazi (15:12) * Last updated 16 October 2013 SOCIAL SIDE Web: www.parkrun.co.za Facebook: parkrunSouthAfrica Twitter: @parkrunSA The much anticipated inaugural Voortrekker Monument parkrun took place in September. The majestic Voortrekker Monument is situated in a nature reserve near Pretoria and is the most visited heritage site of its kind in Gauteng, and one of the top ten cultural historical visitor attractions in the country. The many indigenous plants in the formal gardens are a delight to all plantlovers and the indigenous fauna and ?ora are protected throughout the nature reserve. Small herds of indigenous game can be seen in the area, too! On the day of the launch, the venue hosted 216 athletes with a total of 403 registered on the website. Within a week we had jumped to 603 registered athletes of which 173 completed the parkrun. Entrance to Voortrekker monument parkrun is free if you arrive before 8am on Saturday and present your parkrun barcode. The parkrun course takes in stunning 360-degree views of the capital. There is a long uphill climb to Fort Schanskop, from the Anglo-Boer War era and one of four built in 1897 by President Paul Kruger to protect Pretoria after the Jameson raid of 1896. Runners reach the highest point on the route in the Fort running through the cutting in the hillside and then back down to the ?nish. The parkrun initiative is becoming very popular in Pretoria and we are looking forward to implementing several new parkruns in and around the area! Find a parkrun near you Big Bay, Cape Town Greenpoint, Cape Town Root 44, Stellenbosch Hobie Beach, Port Elizabeth St Francis, Eastern Cape Kidds Beach, East London Nahoon Point, East London Sunrise-on-Sea, East London North Beach, Durban Shongweni, Durban Dusi, Pietermaritzburg Uvongo, KwaZulu-Natal Delta Park, Johannesburg Modderfontein Reserve, Johannesburg Ebotse, Johannesburg Roodepoort, Johannesburg Woodlands, Johannesburg Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria Summer?elds, Kruger Park SIGN UP! Go to www.parkrun.co.za to ?nd your nearest parkrun and to register for free. Just a simple contact form and voila, you’re good to go! 35