Cape Town - When tens of thousands runners take to the streets, there will be at least four famous runners doing it for charity.
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon takes place this Sunday.
This year’s iconic marathon, which weaves its way along the Atlantic Seaboard and through the CBD and southern suburbs before looping back into town, will play host to thousands of marathoners who pledge to #RunForChange.
Among them are Proteas all-rounder and captain JP Duminy, running legend Elana van Zyl-Meyer, broadcaster Poppy Nthsongwana, and businesswoman and Mount Everest conqueror Deshun Deysel.
Ntshongwana said: "I will be running and raising awareness for the marathon’s charity Run 4 Change. I believe in the cause because it’s about bringing about social change and cohesion through running. The marathon and running in general are great social unifiers. The ‘Run 4 Change’ platform is doing an excellent job of tackling inequalities and bringing us together as a country."
Poppy Ntshongwana
Her top five tracks to prepare for Africa's only IAAF Gold status marathon event?
Drake - In My Feelings
AKA - Fela in Versace
Sho Madjozi - Huku
Ariana Grande - No tears left to cry
Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin - I like it.
For Deysel, running to make a difference in the lives of others has special meaning.
"It's an honour for me to run for change, because this helps me highlight the incredible work that gets done in various communities," Deysel said. "In the words of Nelson Mandela: 'Sport has the power to change the world.'," shen said.
Deshun Deysel was the first person to take the new South African flag up Mount Everest. Picture: http://www.peakperformancetoolkit.biz/
"Women have made incredible strides in sport within the last few decades. I'm particularly proud of the pioneering work of Sportswomen like Blanche Moila, Farwa Mentoor and Elana Meyer, who have proven that South African women in particular can run on the world stage. Thousands of women have followed in their footsteps and I'll have an opportunity to follow that same inspiration."
Duminy said: "It’s what my foundation stands for, #ChangingLives, and this fits in well with our values. I’m also an ambassador for Red Cross Children’s Hospital, so being able to be part of creating change is close to my heart.”
JP Duminy
The cricketer said the goal of his participation was to “make people aware that we have the power to create change if we rally together we can do so much if we sing from the same hymn sheet”.
Olympian and race ambassador Van Zyl-Meyer said the event had attracted more than 50 charities.
“What makes this year’s marathon so unique, aside from its being a beautiful and fast race, is the growing spectator and charitable interest in the event.
“We have more than 50 charities represented, with some runners doing the full course in fancy dress as a means of bringing attention to their charitable cause,” Van Zyl-Meyer said.
Olympic medalist Elana van Zyl, seen her with former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, wants the Cape Town Marathon to recognised as one of the world's best, along with the London, Berlin, New York, Boston, Chicago and Tokyo marathons. Picture: Henk Kruger
There's also a UCT Scrub Run on the cards, with the UCT Surgical School having worked closely with Duminy's foundation.
"I have organised the UCT Scrub Run on behalf of the UCT Surgical Society," Gareth Obery said. "We will be running the 10KM Peace Run at the Cape Town Marathon in our medical scrubs. We are raising funds for The Children's Hospital Trust at Red Cross War Memorial Hospital.
"They have put in place an initiative which adds an extra day of surgery on weekends to combat the protracted waiting list. To date, the initiative has allowed for over 800 operations for children who would have to had waited months otherwise. Currently we have raised over R100 000 and hope to reach R150 000. To find out more they can visit our website at www.scrubrun.co.za or follow us on Facebook UCT Scrub Run.
"We are organising this initiative in support of Red Cross Children's Hospital which is a teaching facility for UCT Medical School. JP is an ambassador for the Children's Hospital so we approach him to participate in the initiative. He is a South African sports icon who supports some of the most vulnerable children in our healthcare setting, so we are extremely proud and honoured to have him taking part," Obery said.
@CapeTimesSA