Weekly parkrun in Soweto brings together runners and volunteers
On September 5, a weekly parkrun was held at Dorothy Nyembe Park in Dobsonville, Soweto, South Africa, bringing together local volunteers and members of the running community. As Daily Maverick reports, the event began at 8:00 a.m. after a warm-up led by Soweto parkrun ambassador Lwandile Faledi.
Run at Dorothy Nyembe Park
The park is named after Dorothy Nyembe, whom the publication calls one of the heroines of the struggle for freedom, equality and dignity in South Africa. According to Daily Maverick, the park is currently neglected, although children still play sports there. The Dorothy Nyembe parkrun is one of three such weekly events in Soweto; more than 50 parkrun events operate across Gauteng province.
Participants included nine-time Comrades Marathon winner Bruce Fordyce and his wife Jill, as well as the founder of the international parkrun movement, Paul Sinton-Hewitt, and his wife Joanne. Sinton-Hewitt launched the first parkrun in London’s Bushy Park in 2004. Fordyce founded parkrun in South Africa in 2011 and is now the organization’s chief executive officer in the country.
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Participation of a blind runner
Fordyce completed the five-kilometre distance alongside blind runner Chantal Ferreira, guiding her along the route. They finished in 1 hour, 17 minutes and 58 seconds. After the run, participants spoke with local volunteers and discussed the condition of the park.
According to the publication, at the same time as the Soweto event, about 35,000 other parkrun participants started at 220 events in South Africa. In 22 countries worldwide, taking time-zone differences into account, more than 450,000 people took part in the runs. parkrun participants can run or walk the distance, while volunteers ensure that the events are held; the movement also states that participation is free.
