Jogging junkies celebrate 400th parkrun

The quiet tranquility of Len Rutter Park was once again disturbed when it received its regular dose of parkrun enthusiasts on Saturday, 30 November. The park became a vibrant swarm of colour and sound as the early-morning joggers snaked their way through the course.

This Saturday’s run marked the 400th parkrun since runners took the start/ finish line for the first-ever run at Len Rutter Park on 28 April 2012. That day, almost eight years ago, the run was won by nine-time Comrades Marathon winner Bruce Fordyce who completed the 5km course in 21 minutes and nine seconds. James Bantom was Saturday’s victor with a stunning time of 17 minutes and 52 seconds, only eight seconds ahead of Eden Hendricks in second place.

Runners came from as far as Pretoria to participate, displaying the sense of global community associated with parkrun. Kip Norman, event organiser, began the day with a few acknowledgements for milestone runners, including Sharon and Amy Badenhorst who were running their 100th parkrun.

Registering with parkrun gives you access to a world of stats and record-keeping, among other benefits, “It is all for free. All you have to do is register on the website and print your bar code. The bar code is your unique ID and it tracks your times, how many runs you have done and the results for each race globally. Each runner also receives a commemorative T-shirt each time they pass a milestone.”

To join parkrun, register at https://www.parkrun.co.za.