Get your shoes on for Fun Run

This year marks 40 years of the Spar Daily Dispatch Summer Fun Run and Walk, and all are invited to take part.

Starting at 9am on Sunday at the Orient pools on the Esplanade, the 8km route will see runners and walkers make their way along the beachfront and up into Bunkers Hill, before looping around with an easy downhill back towards the pools.

The 4km, designed for anyone and everyone, is a flat and easy run, walk or ride along the beachfront. Even those who use wheelchairs or push a stroller can and are encouraged to take part.

“A great day is planned, with entertainment provided by Vincent Park Summer Stand, The Lilyfontein Drum Majorettes and George Randell Primary Marimba Band. The host is East London’s favourite, Kerry Hiles,” said Daily Dispatch advertising manager Suren Packery.

This year, The Sweethearts Foundation, known for gifting wheelchairs to the disadvantaged, are the beneficiary of the Spar Daily Dispatch Summer Fun Run, and organisers and partners estimate 2,000 entries in support of this worthy beneficiary.

“The run is wheelchair-friendly and many folks in wheelchairs take part each year. It ties in with a lot of our core values and campaigns and we’ve done similar things in PE. We are happy to be spreading the love to East London and promote healthy living while raising funds for a worthy cause,” said SPAR Eastern Cape sponsorship and events manager, Alan Stapleton.

Packery said that road closures will be in place on the beachfront from Whytes Auto to the bottom of Baysville on the day.

Saturday is the last day to enter, with registration from 10am to 2pm at Nutting Hall in Galway Road, Stirling. Tickets for the 8km run are R70 for adults and R50 for children under 16, and for the 4km run it is R60 for adults and R30 for children under 16 years old. Those who enter groups of 10 pay R55 per person.