Bob Norris, the man behind the Eastern Cape Parkruns
I have always considered myself to have an average fitness level. That is until I met Bob Norris. Speaking to him about his many years of running, I felt positively unfit. And exhausted. At the age of 62, Bob shows no sign of slowing down. Whether he is actively running, organising events or setting up clubs, his passion for running is evident and it’s wonderful that he is channeling it into different projects and sharing his knowledge of the sport with everybody else.
Bob was born in Quigney and grew up in Berea, East London. He attended Selborne Primary School and then Selborne College and was always actively involved and committed to sports, whether it was playing Rugby and Cricket for the school or creating Rugby tour scrapbooks (before scrapbooks became scrapbooking and something completely different!). When it came to running, however, Bob was not interested at a young age, and it wasn’t until about 10 years after he matriculated in 1968, coaxed by an Uncle of his, that he started running, developing a strong interest in it and joining a local club. Shortly afterwards (round about 1978/1979), he, along with two friends of his, started their own club, the Old Selbornian Roadrunners.
Years of running in various capacities followed, alongside his work in Commercial Property, until the opportunity arose for Bob in the shape of Parkrun, the project that perhaps he is best known for around East London.
The history of the Parkrun is an interesting one and one which began in the UK 9 years ago. Paul Sinton-Hewitt, a South African in London, started the very first Parkrun at Bushey Park. On its launch, a grand total of 12 runners participated. The following week there were 11. Fortunately by the third week, word had spread and the numbers of participants increased significantly.
During the period that followed, South African Bruce Fordyce (9 times winner of the Comrades Marathon) travelled to the UK to participate in the London Marathon. While he was there, Paul contacted him and asked him if he would consider visiting the Parkrun at Bushey Park. Somewhat reluctantly (Bruce was due to run the London Marathon the following day), he visited Bushey Park and was blown away by the set-up – hundreds of people in a relaxed environment, running, walking and perhaps most noticeably, socialising and generally having a good time.
Bruce returned to South Africa and set up the Delta Park Parkrun in Johannesburg in 2011. He then approached Bob and asked if he would consider setting up and becoming the Director of a Parkrun in East London. Bob initially declined the invitation, telling Bruce that he was tired and not really up for the new project, but fortunately, Bruce persevered and when he visited East London for the Surfers Challenge in 2012, he once again contacted Bob who relented and planned to show him some potential routes for a Parkrun. They didn’t get much further than breakfast at Nahoon Point because Bruce immediately fell in love with the area and thought it the perfect location for the very first Parkrun of the Eastern Cape.
Bob was obviously then sold on the idea and agreed to become the Event Director in East London. The official launch of the Nahoon Point Parkrun took place on 11th August 2012 and despite media coverage being small (the Go! & Express newspaper was there and an interview with Gordon Graham from Algoa FM had been held the day before), there were a total of 81 people participating in the run. The second week the numbers rose to 116, the third week they were back down to 62 – the latter being the lowest week ever. Today, the Nahoon Point Parkrun has approximately 600 participants every Saturday.
The Parkruns have grown in popularity in a relatively short space of time and there are now five operating in the Eastern Cape, all of which Bob is the Director of. Aside from Nahoon Point, there are Parkruns in St Francis Bay, Port Elizabeth, Sunrise-on-Sea and Kidd’s Beach. There will hopefully be two more started in Port Elizabeth in the near future and one launched in Port Alfred in the new year. There has also been a keen interest in launching a Parkrun in Stutterheim.
The appeal of the Parkruns is very clear. This 5km run (although there are plenty who walk the trail) is not intimidating in any way. It is a free event and has an enormous sense of community spirit. You won’t find small groups of people keeping to themselves on the runs but quite the opposite – everybody knows everybody else and the social aspect of it is very strong, continuing after the run with a breakfast at The Reef Café.
All of the people who work at the Parkruns do so on a voluntary basis, whether ones position is an Event Director or one of the stalwarts who show up every Saturday morning to assist with the general running of the events.
As well as his Parkrun involvement, Bob is now assisting with the Eastern Cape launch of the Born 2 Run Athletic Club, a project initiated by the Director of the Gauteng and KZN Parkruns. With this hectic schedule you would imagine he doesn’t have time for much else, but he is also a regular contributor to the Daily Dispatch newspaper, writing various articles including race previews and reports. Above all else though, Bob is a family man and devotes the majority of his time to his beautiful family – his wife, 31 year old son, 29 year old daughter, 5 month old grandchild and Sammy, a boy aged 4 who is a huge part of Bob’s life and who he is currently in the process of adopting.
If you haven’t yet participated in one of the Parkruns in the Eastern Cape but are keen to try it out, head along one Saturday morning. No need to take money, all you are required to do is register once (after which you receive a barcode, good for any Parkrun) and most importantly, relax, smile and enjoy the great outdoors. And if you meet Bob along the way, give him a thumbs up for relenting and accepting the challenge of a project that is possibly the most talked about running event not only in South Africa but Worldwide. I may even see you there one of these Saturday mornings…