Inner-city runs put the fun back into exercise

Calling all late risers, TV series binge watchers, snackaholics, and those who think walking from their desk jobs to their cars is plenty strenuous.

A running revolution has gripped even the most sedentary among us, convincing determined couch potatoes to dust off their takkies and get moving.

Credit must go to the parkrun phenomenon that has over half a million registered South African runners. There are three million parkrunners in 14 countries. The movement started in Bushy Park in the UK in 2004 when a bunch of friends got together to run one Saturday. The idea of regular groups running through urban parks without the fussiness of formal club structures was born.

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There's a one-off parkrun registration with no paperwork and no fees. The runs (not races) take place every Saturday and have a very civilised starting time of 8am. The 5km distance is meant to be achievable and the focus is on running at one's own pace.

For Bruce Fordyce, the Comrades Marathon legend behind the South African campaign for parkrun, the events motivate those who don't think of themselves as runners to take their first steps and to use urban green spaces better.

"It really should be called "parkwalk" because that's how many people start out and that's good enough," he says.

Breaking down barriers to participation is a parkrun ethos. With this in mind, the Nike+ Run Club organises free after-work city runs tagged "mile-filled meet-ups". They have staggered start times to accommodate different distances from 4km to 12km. An online registration is required.

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For a few rands you can take part in other runs such as the Joburg Zoo Trot. The monthly Sunday morning 5km run costs R55 and has runners pounding the paths through the 55ha zoo.

Monthly runs through golf courses at night are also a hit. Kinetic Events hosts runs for R70. Runners bring along their own headlamps.

Heidi Muller, founder of the event, says she struck on the idea because she was tired of dodging traffic on her runs, and the opportunity to give golf courses an after-dark life seemed perfect too.

"There's a 4km and 8km so it's an easy entry-level run. Some people just walk it because the settings are so beautiful. Since we started we've had a steady stream of around 500 people at each event," Muller says.

The events keep growing and people are giving it a go, one foot in front of another. It's exactly how a journey of a thousand steps gets up and running.

• Check out parkrun.co.za, the Facebook pages of Nike Running Club Rosebank, Kinetic Events Africa, and jhbzoo.org.za.

• This article was originally published in The Times.