The Mofolo parkrun was officially opened on 25 July. And by official I mean a microphone on a podium decorated with pot plants, speeches by Louise Gordon of Joburg City Parks as well as Bruce Fordyce and cutting of the start ribbon. The parkrun SA sponsors were there handing out water bottles, fruit and raincoats. This was a long awaited opening of parkrun in Soweto.
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| Mostly white runners in a predominantly black park in Soweto |
I had a comfortable run with Paula on a confusing course to follow. There are a number of loops, parts of each loop repeated in the next loop and without the marshals we would have no idea where we are going. The incredible Event Director, Boitumelo did instruct us to "Listen to the marshals, especially the handsome one at the top. He is my son! Most of the course is gravel, there are sections of grass scattered with large cow patties and then a bit of running on the pavement . Again, we were instructed by Boitumelo, to stay on the pavements as the taxis in the area don’t have insurance. There were a lot of children watching the runners going around and around with much amusement. I suspect that there haven’t been that many white people in a predominantly black park before.
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| Gift Kelehe, winner of Comrades 2015, running partner Paula, orchestra |
The highlight of the parkrun for me was to have my picture taken with Gift Kelehe, the winner of Comrades 2015. He finished second, running like it was a literal stroll in the park.
This was the most amazing parkrun finish that I have attended. An orchestra performed while fruit and soup were made available to the finishers. I would like to see this parkrun grow and then I would like to go back, probably to volunteer.
Results: I was the the 23rd lady to finish out of a field of 167.
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