Johannesburg – The annual Katlehong Athletics Club will hit the ground running on 31 December, as the annual event anticipates taking the centre stage to uplift young talents in Katlehong, south-east of Johannesburg.
New Years’ Eve will be filled with various sports segments, as participants from all walks of life will compete for the grand prize.
According to Hloni Motloung, chairperson of Katlehong Athletics Club, this event will also be a charity drive club run.
“This is a Club initiative aimed at collecting school shoes for underprivileged learners,” said Motloung.
“As the club, we have run a campaign of collecting school shoes and we will distribute them in a form of offering a helping hand to the disadvantaged.
The month of December is the time of the year, where people reflect on the year that has been. It is the time for families, friends to reconnect, travel, and for people to recuperate.
Motloung says this is the time people take their time to ponder about future plans, finances, education, and health.
“It is in this spirit that we continue to ask you to spur a thought for those underprivileged and destitute learners returning to school next year in 2022.
“The Club will collect school shoes starting from today and proceeds raised from the running event on 31 December will also go towards buying school shoes”, explains Motloung.
The club approaches school principals every January to help in identifying learners who require school shoes, the donation is made to the schools through the principals who will ensure deserving learners benefit from this program.
“School shoes are symbolic of pride and give confidence to young learners knowing that they can walk to school in comfort, as opposed to barefoot.
“We believe that a new pair of shoes should be tough enough to protect a young child’s feet whether it is on the playground, on the sports field or even walking home in the middle of winter,” he states.
Motloung said on the day of the run, runners will assemble at Ramokonupi East on Sontonga Road (Opposite Somhlolo Ground and Ramokonupi Clinic) to run the 10km, 21km and 31km at 05:00am.
In 2020 the project took place through virtual platforms due to strict Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
“As we put plans in place to run this year, we continue to request the running community to adhere to government regulations and vaccinate,” he added.
Motloung said Covid-19 protocol will be observed on the day to ensure that the event is running safely.
“We also request runners to wear bright and reflective clothing to increase visibility on the road”, said Motloung.
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