Inspired by Maccabi Great Britain, Maccabi SA embarked on a mission in early 2018 to hold their first ever Fun Run and follow the successes of the UK event. With the help and guidance of global Maccabi Fun Run Coordinator, Danielle Bensky (based in Israel), together with Maccabi SA Sports Director Alain Nathan, planning got underway and the Fun Run immediately started taking shape.<\/p>\n
The stature of the event was dramatically boosted with the signing of Bidvest as the headline sponsor. A widespread marketing campaign was then launched which resulted in Maccabi SA\u2019s first ever Fun Run being attended by 425 participants, a similar number to Maccabi Great Britain\u2019s first event in 2007. This coming weekend will see Maccabi GB exceed 6000 participants in the 11th<\/sup> edition of their Fun Run in London.<\/p>\n The Bidvest Maccabi Fun Run took place on Sunday, 17 June at Huddle Park, Linksfield in Johannesburg. With perfect weather on the day, families with strollers and dogs came out to take part in the 1km Kiddies Dash as well as the more challenging 5km route. Food vendors, jumping castles and face painters were all on hand to make sure the day had something for everyone.<\/p>\n Importantly, the event also benefitted 15 Jewish charities and organisations who registered as beneficiaries with Maccabi SA, and participants could select whom to donate their entry fee to. This arrangement between Maccabi and the charities is a new way of raising funds as a community, and ensuring the Fun Run has as wide a reach as possible.<\/p>\n Neil Meyerowitz finished the 5km course first in a blistering time of 19:24, an excellent result considering the course was a winding trail through Huddle Park and not on the road. A young Gilad Arieli finished hot on his heels with a time of 20:08. While some were serious about their running, others took a more leisurely approach to the day, with all participants finishing the course and thoroughly enjoying themselves. A very special entry was Dr Vic Boston who had in the previous week completed his 42nd<\/sup> Comrades Marathon. Mazel tov Doc!<\/p>\n An important note of thanks to our generous sponsors: Bidvest, Pureau Water, Busby Promo, Barron and Robin Ruth. The event would also not have been possible without the following partners: European Maccabi Confederation, Chai FM, Cortac, Farrell Cohen Physiotherapists, Huddle Park, Hatzolah and Medi Response.<\/p>\n Maccabi SA Chairman, Cliff Garrun, said: \u201cOur Bidvest Fun Run team has done an amazing job in getting such a well organised and well attended event together. Many thanks as always to the team of volunteers who gave generously of their time and skills. Next year we hope to double the number of participants as Maccabi SA keeps evolving to serve the Jewish Community\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Inspired by Maccabi Great Britain, Maccabi SA embarked on a mission in early 2018 to hold their first ever Fun Run and follow the successes of the UK event. With the help and guidance of global Maccabi Fun Run Coordinator, Danielle Bensky (based in Israel), together with Maccabi SA Sports Director Alain Nathan, planning got […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-macabbi-sa-news"],"yoast_head":"\n