Sipho Marima decided to dedicate his 21km run this weekend to women facing constant gender violence, to honour them, he removed his shoes on his last 1km.
Germiston, Johannesburg – On Sunday the Germiston Callies hosted their annual Fred Morrison 21km run. The race honours Fred Morrison known as “The Father of Callies” and also a top runner and chairman of Callies for many years.
The day also sees a fun run take place, of which the funds are donated to the Germiston SPCA. Sipho Marima took part in the 21km and decided to dedicate his run to women and children in South Africa.
He joined the Run4Her campaign which sees runners remove their shoes and run barefoot for the last kilometre of every race.
Sabie Mashigo runs the Run4Her Facebook page, which honours the late Rathabile Mofokeng. Sabie herself is a rape survivor and hopes that someday they won’t have to fight for justice, that rape and gender violence will be abolished.
“I will be taking on the challenge of finishing the last kilometer of every race barefoot to highlight the plight of victims of sexual violence. Seromo Mofokeng decided to take up this challenge with me when she ran the last kilometer of her Comrades Marathon Barefoot wearing The Barefoot Sandals in solidarity for victims of sexual violence.
Nothing compares to the physical, mental and psychological effects of rape.” – Sabie Mashing
Sipho joined the cause and dedicated his race to the Run4Her campaign as well.
“Today at the Fred Morrison 21km I ran in support of the #Run4Her campaign to support the #BarefootWarriors by running my last km barefoot ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, HANDS OFF OUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN!!
As men, we are supposed to protect our women and children. They are supposed to feel safe with us, not fear us.
Related Story
I am Sipho Marima and I stand against Rape, Violence and Abuse on our women and Children”
Sipho is an inspiration to all, and hopefully, more people will show their support and remove their shoes to support Run4Her. Thank you for taking a stand for women.
Not only did Sipho dedicate this run to Run4Her, but he also uses his runs to raise funds for children with intellectual disabilities.
by 