ESCAPE: How a humble Soweto parkrun cultivates joy and community in a neglected park
In Soweto’s Dorothy Nyembe Park, parkrun’s understated weekly ritual united legends like Bruce Fordyce with grassroots volunteers, proving running can rebuild community and hope.
In Soweto’s Dorothy Nyembe Park, a weekly parkrun event united people from all walks of life, proving that running can rebuild community and hope. Named after a brave hero, the park is rundown and neglected, but it has the potential to become a renaissance. On a cold, wet Saturday morning, a group of people assembled for the parkrun, which was attended by notable figures such as Bruce Fordyce, a nine-time Comrades Marathon winner, and his wife Gill, as well as Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the founder of the parkrun movement.
The parkrun began with a warm-up session led by a parkrun ambassador and a run briefing by the day’s run director. The event drew approximately 35,000 parkrunners in South Africa and over 450,000+ parkrunners in 22 different countries. While Bruce Fordyce preferred to walk the 5km course, guiding his partner Chantal Ferreira, a blind runner, who finished the race in 1:17:58.
The parkrun volunteers, despite the park’s poor condition, bonded with the runners and celebrated their shared love for running and community. The parkrun event demonstrated the power of simplicity and the impact of a worldwide web of volunteers working for love, not money.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
