Thousands of runners, bikers take part in JUMA
02 June 2016
More than 7 000 runners and mountain bikers took part in the City of Johannesburg’s Urban Marathon Adventure at Marks Park in Emmarentia at the weekend.
The two-day event – which started with a fun run on Saturday May 28 and culminated in the mountain bike race on Sunday May 29 – was sponsored by Hollard Insurance, Johannesburg City Parks & Zoo, Bam Experience Creation and Ad Reach Uplifting Business Atomic.
The adventure was in line with the City of Johannesburg’s Go Jozi Healthy Lifestyle Programme, championed by Executive Mayor Councillor Parks Tau, to encourage citizens to engage in physical activity to stay fit and healthy, keep chronic diseases at bay and increase the city's life expectancy.
More than 2 000 runners took part in the gruelling Jozi Urban Running Adventure on Saturday, which had been divided into 6km, 12km and 18km categories. About 5 000 mountain bike riders participated in the 22km and 54km Jozi Urban Mountain Bike Adventure on Sunday.
Prizes totalling R100 000 were awarded to the top three finishers in each category. As a cherry on top, total of R20 000 was awarded to the best-dressed team, best-dressed runner, best-dressed family, the runner who suffered the biggest scratch and the biggest team entry.
Johannesburg City Parks & Zoo’s Louise Gordon said the event was a major success and brought runners and riders from all corners of Johannesburg and families together.
“Johannesburg City Parks & Zoo is thrilled about the event. It did not only bring people together but it also promoted the spirit of healthy living. Above all, it generated some revenue for us. We’re grateful to the sponsors, who donated five bikes for our cycling team,” she said.
Professor Ashraf Coovadia, Head of the Paediatric Unit at the Rahima Moosa Hospital in Coronationville, and his team of doctors took part in the 6km and 18km fun runs to raise funds for catheter laboratories at Chris Hani Baragwanath, Charlotte Maxeke and Rahima Moosa hospitals. They exceeded their expectations when they raised more than R100 000.
Prof Coovadia said he felt good after the race and called for it to be held annually. “It was a fantastic event and it was worth every minute of it. I wish to thank my colleagues for making our dream come,” he said.
Dr Michelle Koch of Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, who took part in the 18km race with her brother Karl, said she felt good after the race.
“It was good because we did it for a good cause. It was a wonderful event and people were friendly. We'll definitely be back next year. The atmosphere was great and we had lots of fun,” she said.