The Welkom parkrun celebrated its 300th run on Saturday 19 April. This event was started on 13 May 2017, through the initiating drive of local enthusiast Raffaele Moretti.
It is a free, fun and friendly weekly 5km community event that takes place at the St Dominic’s College sports fields.
“In this safe environment runners can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate; it’s up to you,” says Willie Niehaus, one of the Welkom Park directors and a longtime volunteer.
“Since inception, the 5 803 participants have completed
57 275 parkruns covering a distance of 286 375km, including
8 670 new personal bests. A total of 209 individuals have volunteered 4 066 times. There is an average number of 191 participants across all events.”
His co-director is Frikkie Knoetze.
The Welkom bunch have quite a few remarkable milestones and records notched to their belts. The most individual runs attributed to the diehards of the Welkom parkrun are: Henry Mackay (313), Helena Mackay (302), Barnie de Klerk (302), Judy Harrison (300), Soon Reynders (298) and Annemarie de Klerk (280).
The true-blooded volunteers with the most shifts done are Willie Niehaus (305), Barnie de Klerk (275), Helena Mackay (191), Jill Lombard (182), Suzette van Zyl (153) and Henry Mackay (150). Volunteers form an integral part of parkrun.
The Welkom parkrun is a tight-knit group. Some of the oldest participants range in age between 75 and 84 and include: Margie Sutton (80-84), Shirley Fick (80-84), Bernard Huysamen (80-84), Susan Pirc (75-79), Mary Fry (75-79), Magdalena Venter (75-79), Honey Maritz (75-79), Jill Lombard (75-79), Dries Cronje (75-79), John Williams (75-79), Raffaele Morreti (75-79), Brian Mayne (75-79), Roelof Van Wyk (75-79), Rob Hatton (75-79) and Koos Stiglingh (75-79).
The current course record for men (15:56) was set by Victor Makhebesela and Selapane Soke on 12 February 2022. Arouchelle Nieuwenhuis set the women’s course record at 20:02 on 20 April 2024.
Niehaus says it costs nothing to join parkrun, but participants do need to register.
“You only register once. We all take part for our own enjoyment, and everybody can come along and join in, whatever your pace – walk, jog, run.”
The venue is at 85 Jan Hofmeyr Road, via the Volks Road entrance.
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