Parkrun reaches 13th year
PARKRUN celebrated its 13th international birthday on Saturday with thousands in the Eastern Cape joining millions of fun-runners around the world lacing up their takkies at 8am for the free weekly event.
At Port Elizabeth’s Hobie Beach alone – one of three parkrun venues in Nelson Mandela Bay – 826 runners undertook the 5km route between Shark Rock Pier and the beacon at Admiralty Way.
Bluewater Bay resident Henry Pienaar, who has completed 260 parkruns since the event started in South Africa five years ago, was one of them.
“I started doing the parkrun because I was overweight but since then it has become a way of life, and I don’t miss one if I don’t have to,” Pienaar said.
He moved to Port Elizabeth earlier this year from East London, where he was the event director of that city’s Kidd’s Beach run.
The free red (50 runs), black (100 runs) and purple (25 volunteer days) T-shirts are increasingly common in South Africa but Pienaar is one of few who have earned their green 250 T-shirt.
Parkrun numbers are growing steadily, with more than 30 000 South Africans taking part regularly.
It is the biggest running event in the world, taking place in 17 countries, with more than 200 000 people walking, jogging, running or volunteering every week across more than 1 200 events “and it’s still free, for everyone”, PE Hobie Beach parkrun director Werner de Lange said, praising the “Hobie heroes” and other volunteers who made it possible.
“In parkrun terms, 13 is a very special number as that is how many runners lined up on 2 October 2004 to run the Bushy Park Time Trial in England,” he said.
The Hobie Beach parkrun is also popular with travellers.
Ray Selwyn, from Essex in the UK, makes a point of running when he visits his brother Keith’s family in the Bay.
Selwyn’s home route is the Hadley Mountain Bike parkrun, the same course used in the 2012 London Olympics.
“It’s very well organised here [Hobie Beach] and the scenery is beautiful. It’s nice to see all the youngsters here and it is a lot more competitive,” he said.