Mayor joins Mercy Marathon

Franklin Peceur, Mark Koopman, Malcolm Johnson, Rudolph Williams joined by Mayor Deon de Vos and Ezzard Hufkie of the Department of Education.

GRAAFF-REINET — On a chilly Wednesday morning, Mayor Deon de Vos joined four dedicated walkers on their epic journey through South Africa during their pit-stop in town.

Graaff-reinet was included as one of 40 towns in the third annual Mercy Marathon.

The sole purpose of the marathon is to raise awareness of the South African Red Cross Air Mercy Service (AMS) and raise much-needed funds for the organisation to operate.

AMS is a non-profit organisation that offers aero-medical rescue services, which consists of an air ambulance health outreach and emergency rescue to remote rural and metropolitan areas.

Malcolm Johnson (60), joined by Rudolph Williams (61), Mark Koopman (51) and Franklin Peceur (45) started this 36-day journey on Saturday, 12 May, and aim to walk more than 2 000kms from Richards Bay to Stellenbosch. The four individuals participating in this year’s marathon all have active lifestyles, some of which includes completing several walking competitions and 17 Comrades marathons.

During their pit-stop in Graaff-reinet, a commemorative scroll, carried from town to town, was signed by Mayor Deon de Vos.

The team left town early Wednesday morning in the direction of Aberdeen where they would stop for the night.

After accompanying the walkers down Church Street, Mayor de Vos wished them a safe and enjoyable journey.