Eight-time Comrades winner Bruce Fordyce has set his heart on a massive parkrun project to equip each event with life-saving defibrillators.
South Africa (29 September 2022) – Parkrun South Africa’s humble beginnings started in November 2011 at Delta Park, where 25 participants joined Bruce Fordyce, Comrades marathon legend and CEO of parkrun South Africa, for the inaugural run.
A growing number of volunteers and ambassadors manage the logistics of parkrun – they coordinate the runs in their community, manage the rosters, set up in the morning and upload timed results after the run.
The magic that is parkrun is a simple formula. It’s 5km, it’s free, it’s timed, and it’s every Saturday. Everyone is welcome – young and old, runners, joggers and walkers, families with children and prams, and our furry four-legged friends.
Bruce Fordyce loves how South Africa has embraced parkrun and hopes to raise funds to equip each event with a life-saving defibrillator.
As President of parkrun South Africa, Bruce is promoting a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy, working closely with global defibrillator supplier Aero Healthcare to raise R4 million to provide almost 200 parkrun events with a defibrillator, which costs R20,000 each.
Since the launch of the campaign more than almost R130,000 has been raised with the support of 242 donors.
“This will be an ongoing project. It will be quite a challenge, but I know South Africans love to rise to challenges and the resilient South African spirit is legendary. Globally defibrillators have saved many lives. Now it’s our turn.” – says Bruce
Thankfully, Critical heart-related incidents at parkrun are exceptionally rare. But, when they do happen, the chances of survival are 65% higher when a defibrillator (AED) is used within minutes, according to parkrun’s comprehensive reporting database.
As the events are free for anyone to participate in, Bruce hopes that crowdfunding will inspire people to give back to this incredible cause.
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To donate to this cause, just click here. If you want to register for your nearest parkrun, you can do so here.
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