Cape Town Marathon Supports Grootbos Foundation

This past Sunday, the Cape Town Marathon took place in the Mother City, bringing the first major marathon to the African continent. Grootbos Foundation was proud to be a charity partner of the Cape Town Marathon and was especially proud and grateful to the 10 athletes who ran for Grootbos Foundation and raised funds for Footsteps for Fynbos, a campaign supporting conservation and job creation for local teams engaged in ongoing invasive plant clearing. Grootbos was proud to have taken these beautiful proteas to the Cape Town Marathon expo to support the local protea cutflower growers and harvesters, many of whom had suffered damage during the summer fire season.

We met some of the runners who chose to run for Footsteps for Fynbos. We had been meeting them as they started arriving to register for race day.

This is Owen, one of our Cape Town Marathon runners. On Sunday, Owen represented Grootbos Foundation as he took on the 42.2km Cape Town Marathon. Grootbos Foundation was an official charity partner of the Cape Town Marathon, which meant runners could choose to fundraise for a good cause in order to receive a charity ticket.

This is Andrea, a graphic designer from Johannesburg. She did an incredible job fundraising for Grootbos Foundation, organising bake sales and markets, and running a whole social media account dedicated to raising funds for us! This was her first marathon.

Meet Sagar, a lawyer from New York, US. The Cape Town Marathon was his 4th marathon! Sagar said: “Running has given me a sense of discipline, structure, and purpose, and the idea that it can also help support young people on their own paths, while preserving one of the most unique ecosystems on the planet, felt like a meaningful way to give back.”

Elise knew Grootbos Foundation through her husband, who used to work with our sports team through streetfootballworld. She chose to run for Grootbos Foundation because she knew and trusted our impact. This was Elise’s first marathon!

Meet Sharon and Barak Hirschowitz, who live in the USA. Sharon had strong ties to Betty’s Bay and chose to run for an NPO close to her original home because of her passion for fynbos! Barak ran the entire 42.2km race while juggling three balls. Barak called himself a joggler: jogging + juggling!