parkrun organize free weekly timed 5km runs all over the world. Starting from 27 September, Grahamstown will be hosting a parkrun in our very own Botanical Gardens. These runs/walks are free and welcome keen runners, joggers and walkers of all ages. No matter what your pace or ability we would love you join us for our first parkrun, all you need to do is register via the website: www.parkrun.co.za/register
The course is run on a mixture of bricked lanes, trail paths and grass. It consists of two different loops with the first one being run twice. Where possible, marshals and signs will be located at key points to help guide runners. Discovery Vitality members (18 years and older) will earn 500 Vitality points for participating. The run will start and finish at the entrance to the Gardens on Lucas Avenue and parking can be found at Eden Grove or The Provost Cafe. These runs will take place every Saturday morning starting at 8am.
5km's, every Saturday, for free! Get Up, Get Out, Get Running! Our Event Directors are Monde Dabane and Nadia Czeredrecki-Schmidt
Our Run Directors are Tonderai M, Monde Dabane, PJ Helleman and Nadia Czeredrecki-Schmidt
General Info:
parkrun started in 2004 with just 13 runners in Bushy Park, Teddington by Paul Sinton-Hewitt. Since then, parkrun has become a well established running event; open to everyone who happens to be near a venue on a Saturday morning. Wherever possible, our events are run every Saturday of the year and some even boast a special event on both Christmas and New Years Day. When Paul first set out to create Bushy parkrun, his aim was to make it simple for anyone to take part whenever it suited them. He hoped that runners would want to compete against themselves and not necessarily against the other participants. Right from the start, this was to be a community project where the runners would always run for free. Runners sign up on the website once in their life… then just turn up and run at any event in the world. Results are emailed the same day and posted on the website. There are clubs to encourage participation: a 50 Club for runners who've reached 50 runs, a 100 Club, a 250 Club, and a Junior U19 10 Club. parkrun keeps in touch with runners through an emailed weekly newsletter, the website and social media. We believe that parkrun fosters an attitude towards improving ones health by offering a unique proposition to runners: a non-commercial, free, feel-good, community based event but with a family stretching across the world.
