Welcome to the SA newsletter

There was a hint of spring in the air at our three parkruns on Saturday morning. Runners spotted their first blossoms at Delta Park where a field of close to 100 runners set off. There was a light dusting of frost on the ground at Ebotse and Roodepoort but conditions were mild compared to last weekend’s icy windy weather. Roodepoort continues to grow and Ebotse topped the 100 mark for the first time as runners of all abilities enjoyed the mild conditions. Beware however SA parkrunners, winter is not over and there are still a few more cold days to come. (Some of us still remember the heavy snow that fell in Johannesburg in September 1981)

Interest in parkruns in South Africa continues to grow and East London’s Nahoon Point run is in the final stages of preparation. Event director, Bob Norris is a long time running friend and knows everything about sport in the Border region. We are also looking at a parkrun in Mpumalanga (Hazyview). I helped hand out the prizes at the 1000km. challenge awards ceremony at the Voortrekker Monument restaurant this weekend. Organiser, Tobie Reynecke, announced that all parkruns will count towards next year’s challenge. There was plenty of interest in starting a parkrun in Pretoria.

It is encouraging to see some of our top race walkers using parkruns as part of their preparation even if it is disconcerting for some of us to be running while passed by a walker travelling at a shade over 4 minutes a kilometer.

Happy Running!

Bruce (email me)

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Welcome to the SA newsletter

Bad luck to Tracy Rankin, Dieter Meyers, Rainier Joubert and Bruce Fordyce. The first South African parkrun club tee-shirt has been awarded to Mika Gouws and it’s a beautiful silver T-shirt awarded to junior parkrunners who have completed 10 parkruns. Congratulations to the Gouws family, and all you old toppies keep on going for your red “50” tee-shirt. Thanks to Blue Label Telecoms and Adidas SA for your support.

Happy Running!

Bruce (email me)

Bosman shatters Ebotse parkrun record

In a powerful display of front running on June 6th, Armand Bosman shattered the 5 kilometre Ebotse Links parkrun record by more than 2 minutes, finishing in 17 minutes 53 seconds. He was closely followed by Benoni’s sub 4 minute miler Scott Harris and impressive youngster Heinrich Kamffer in 3rd place. In the ladies section Kerryn Vollmer triumphed ahead of Jo-Anne Buchner & Keryn Venter. The run of the day however belonged to Ingrid Wieland who decimated the 70-74 year age category with a stunning time of 33 minutes 17 seconds for the beautiful but tough course. you can view the full results here.

The Ebotse Links parkrun was honoured to host Benoni’s multiple Duzi gold medallist, Mike Steward. Taking time out to enjoy a relaxed run with his young son Liam, Mike proved to be a real parkrun celebrity, having run his first parkrun in the United Kingdom way back in 2005, making him one of South Africa’s first parkrunners.

Marque Bartlett turned on the heat at the cold and wet Ebotse Links parkrun held on 24 June. He scorched around the challenging but beautiful 5 km route to finish well ahead of the field in a good time of 20 minutes and 28 seconds.

Boksburg was also well represented in the age category competition with Jan Dries winning the 45-49 age category and Andre Bredenkamp winning the 55-59 age group.

The parkrun at the Ebotse Golf & Country Estate is held every Saturday at 08h00 and is free of charge (everyone welcome including walkers). See parkrun.co.za or call Ian on 076 892 5307 for more information.

Happy running
Ian

Hot chocolate and muffins at Roodepoort parkrun

On Saturday 30 June, Pauline Weed of Florida Running Club helped us make the event extra special by offering our runners free tea, coffee and hot chocolate as well as muffins. It was not surprising that we had the biggest turnout of runners to date. A total of 53 finishers took part and enjoyed the morning’s festivities. Pauline has offered her services on behalf of Florida Running Club once a month, so come along and enjoy it at the end of July once again.

Our monthly shoe draw took place on the same day. All finishing position tags were entered into the draw that took place at the finish. Thank you to Tony Richardson of Randburg Runner for sponsoring the draw. Congratulations to his month’s winner, Jonathan De Kock.

I have found that parkrun inspires others as much as it inspires me, not only physically but mentally too. Kobus Kok approached me early on Saturday morning while I was busy setting up and noticed the difficulty of pushing our rout-marker flags into the very dry soil. He brought along a few flag poles that he had welded together. The flag poles are easily pushed into the ground with your foot and make setup more efficient. Thank you Kobus!

David Ashworth

Feedback from the field

May God bless you.

Regards,
Renee

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Welcome to the SA newsletter

On the Saturday before the Comrades marathon (26th May) A record field of 122 parkrunners set off across a wintery veld. A number of runners and volunteers from our sponsors, Blue Label Telecoms were present. The fact that it was 8 days before our famous Comrades marathon may have been part of the reason that a record field attended but we suspect that it was the chance to toe the line with the legendary Zola Budd that led to the upsurge in enthusiasm. Zola is really interested in the parkrun concept and she wanted to see what all the fuss is about. She also wanted a last fast run before attempting her first Comrades.

The former World Cross Country champion used the perfect winter running conditions to break the women’s record. Afterwards she signed autographs and posed for photographs with some of our delighted parkrunners. It was Zola’s birthday and we presented her with a cake!

Zola heading out with fellow runners at the start of Delta parkrun 26 May 2012

Please like our Delta parkrun facebook page or follow us on our Twitter (@deltaparkrun).

Happy Running!

Bruce (email me)

Roodepoort parkrun

While many runners were sitting with their legs up last Saturday waiting in anticipation of the annual pilgrimage from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, Roodepoort parkrun took place as usual. We had 32 runners complete the course with volunteers willing to offer up their time for the success of this event.

Things are certainly hotting up as Luvuyo Silwana finished in first position once again and set a course record of 17:38. Luvuyo was one of many who achieved PB times this past weekend, so congratulations to everyone for their accomplishments!

As runners we know how addictive running is and that our non-runner friends cannot understand what possesses us to run without being chased by something life-threatening. This is especially true when running on tar roads that were designed for cars! We can of course argue that it is far cheaper to run that to pay the high fuel price. Why not encourage a friend to come along on this weekend to participate in our parkrun? We are privileged to have such a picturesque open space on our doorstep. Let’s take advantage of it and introduce a friend to the parkrun experience and see if they too, will become an addict.

We would like all parkrunners to share their thoughts, and comments about Roodepoort parkrun or any parkrun for that matter on the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Roodepoortparkrun or on twitter http://twitter.com/roodepoortRun

Launch of new Ebotse parkrun

Fittingly on South Africa’s Youth Day we launched our 3rd parkrun At Ebotse on the East Rand. For “Organiser” Iain Morshead the launch was the culmination of many months of planning and weeks of hard work. It was a delightful tribute to Iain and his team of volunteers to see a field of more than 70 runners head off down the 10th tee of the Ebotse golf course. (Part of Iain’s amazing work has been his negotiations with the golfing fraternity to allow the runners to run across sections of the golf course. It was a cloud covered and cool morning hut without the usual mid- winter thick blanket of frost. The runners all seemed to enjoy the route and while there were the usual beginner minor problems the run was deemed a great success. Highlights included running past flocks of Guinea-Fowl and being outpaced by some very fast Springbok.

Meanwhile our other two parkruns continue to be solid and well attended. Roodepoort is looking very settled and Delta Park attracted a record field of 124 runners. 4 times Comrades marathon winner and great Alan Robb ran his first parkrun.

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