Feedback from the field

Robin Archer, Regional Ambassador for KZN Inland, recently celebrated an unusual double by running both his 250th event and achieving a 250th Volunteering Credit at the same event.

“My parkrun life commenced with running at North Beach at its second event. 8 months later I switched to Shongweni where I was Event Director for a few years. The opportunity then arose to be a local event ambassador and, subsequently, a Regional Ambassador since 2018. My wife, Ruth, is well known to many parkrunners as she was responsible for milestone t-shirt distribution during the 3 or 4 years prior to SA being incorporated into the global distribution scheme.

parkrun has so many admirable qualities such as offering a chance to exercise, embarking on Friday evening or Saturday morning excursions and meeting people from all walks of life. However, parkrun has not only offered the opportunity to change our lives but it enables us to offer the same opportunity to others and there are surely few other community gatherings with similar benefits and I believe that is what is so unique and special about this concept. A friend made the comment that participation and volunteering are not mutually exclusive and I hope my “double” is testament to that fact”

Westville parkrun was our first post-lockdown event. It was absolutely wonderful to interact with everyone again.

Tony Ant Calitz