Taariq Stokes will be running from Johannesburg to Durban. The Wentworth resident will be covering 704 kilometres. He is raising funds for Awareness on Men’s mental health issues.
In a few days, Taariq Stokes will be taking on a massive task. The Wentworth native will be running from Johannesburg to Durban – that’s 704km! Taariq will be taking off on the 20th of November with 11 other runners from Walkerville, Johannesburg to Moses Mabhida in Durban. The run will take about 76 hours. They are hoping to raise R50,000 to support mental health institutions and establish community workshops to offer support to men who are struggling with mental health issues. There will be two teams, A and B, each will have a total of six runners who will be running from Joburg in three separate pairs. “As a man, I know how hard it is to speak up,” Stokes said.
Running for a challenge is a good exercise. Doing it for a charitable cause is a great goal. A charitable cause like Men’s mental health issues needs to be brought to the fore. This sponsorship for a 704 km run is one way to do it. Running is also good for cardio. The sport is able to have the blood pumping. Seventy-six hours is a long time to run though, I hope Stokes has arranged for places to stop and rest on the way. For him and his teams. Raising R 50,000 in charity is a better goal than winning some prize at the end. In this case it raises awareness concerning anxiety and depression. Adult men are known to struggle with expressing their emotions and this run could go a long way to raise awareness as well as serve as a challenging form of exercise.
Meanwhile the Hope Challenge was being held at the Amphitheatre, the Durban Promenade the previous Sunday. Among those running was the Scottburgh Athletics club.
42.2km: Howard Cele 03:45:46, Ayanda Mthimkhulu 03:45:49, Yassin Mwalabu 04:15:12, Njabulo Langa 04:44:26 and Johannes Hattingh 04:48:21. 21.2km: Kirsty Moriarty 02:00:25, Dana Daniels 02:28:55, Tammy Quarsingh 02:36:08 and Vanessa Hattingh 03:07:50. 10km: Zibuyile Langa 01:15:08 The public is also reminded of the Scottburgh Half Marathon and 10km event at Scottburgh Golf Club on January 12. Entries are limited to 900 people, and there will be goodie bags and medals for all finishers. There will also be shirts for the first 700 entries. Cash prizes and hotel getaways are up for grabs. Experience the stunning Scottburgh scenery, push your limits and enjoy the camaraderie of the local running community! There are several rules and regulations to abide by, so visit the Scottburgh Athletic Club’s Facebook page for more information. Register via eventtiming.co.za or call 073 2440361 to find out more.
The above states the finishing times over which the Scottburgh team ran the 42.2 km race. The race would certainly have been competitive given the other teams they were competing against. None the less they were able to do their best and finish with in the time frame. The races being run by the Scottburgh Athletics Club are meant to encourage participation in running. To build interest in looking after health. The participation in events led by Athletics clubs is encouraged to promote sport and looking after your health. It is interesting that they motivate people to participate using goodies bags and finishers medals. The real prise should be to encourage a healthy and balanced life style. The goodies bags hopefully focus on living healthy. Whether its running for charitable causes like mental health or just running for good old heath it is one of the best exercises and sports combined.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
