Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 61, August 2014 | Page 41

ER N A DI E RT PA M parkrun SA Join the friendly, free 8am Saturday morning 5km in your area! krunner Meet a par Flavio Fehohle, Halls parkrun, Nelspruit MA: How did you get into parkrun? Flavio: I started parkrun at the beginning of March this year. Toy Dupper invited me to Halls so I could test their challenging hilly course, to see if I can beat the 14:58 course record. I remember it was ideal prep for SA Champs and I managed a 14:47 finish. I expected a good time because I was in good shape. Halls is not the easiest course, but I enjoy it so much! I’ve also tackled the White River parkrun. MA: You mentioned parkrun being your weekly time trial. How does it help you for your other running goals and what are you targeting for the rest of 2014? Flavio: My coach and I have set parkruns as weekly runs to test how I’m feeling and if I’m strong enough to compete as I’d like to. I’ve recently come back from Sweden and Norway, where I achieved top-three positions in my races. I’ll be racing in Brazil in August and I’m enjoying the overseas challenge. Once I achieve my target sub-15:00 at parkrun, it usually sets me up for good racing times. But everyone should just come and join – it’s fun, free and the people are friendly! Halls parkrun Where it’s at: Halls Gateway, Mattafin, Nelspruit The course: A 2.5km out and back mix of tarmac and trail on the Halls property from Gateway, through beautiful orchards and a dairy farm, then slowly back along the banks of the Crocodile River. They’re friendly: Every week the team grab a postparkrun coffee in Wimpy Halls Gateway. TATS parkrun SA S Number of parkruns: 32 Number of events: 1641 Number of active runners: 60 414 Number of individual runs: 302 618 Total distance covered: 1 513 090km Total run time: 22 years, 221 days, 4 hours, 55 minutes and 24 seconds *Last updated 16 July SIGN UP! Go to www.parkrun.co.za to find your nearest parkrun and to register for free. Just a simple contact form and voila, you’re good to go! OR follow parkrun on Facebook: parkrunSouthAfrica or Twitter: @parkrunSA Flavio: It’s a run that accommodates everyone! You can be a serious runner or non-athlete. Anyone in the community can come and try it out and you do it in your own time. For me, parkrun is about keeping me in check and seeing where my form is and if I need more work. People love coming every week because it’s their own time trial against themselves and they get to meet all kinds of people. parkruns are about bettering yourself and staying healthy, too! You get to bond with everyone and you can bring friends along. There are families, grannies and kids, it’s free, and it’s a great feeling when you finish. Sometimes when my friends join, I hold back a little more to take it easy and enjoy it. parkrun PARTNER! Modern Athlete is proud to be an official partner of parkrun SA. Each month in the magazine, you’ll get all the parkrun news, info and updates, plus all registered parkrun members will receive a FREE Modern Athlete digi-mag each month! Images: Toy Dupper & Courtesy Gill Fordyce MA: Why do you think that parkrun has become so popular in SA?