Our George parkrun kicked off three weeks ago with the first events here since lockdown last year curtailed parkrun activities. In its first two weeks, George parkrun ranked as the highest participation parkrun event in South Africa - but note that many of the really big SA parkruns have not yet restarted. I've been volunteering at these events, enjoying the barcode scanning volunteer role.
This past Saturday's George parkrun was cancelled following last week's flood-condition rainfall that has washed away some trail sections and annihilated necessary bridges.
One of the parkrun guys shared these stats from the George parkrun event held on 20 November. It is a treat to see the high number of women, especially into the more mature ages. What did puzzle me was the lack in participation of men and women in the 18-24 age group with a significantly less-than-fantastic showing from 25-29 year old men. I want to shout to them all - "You are in the physical prime of your life!". Well, they should be.
So, what is the reason for the female dominance? In a chitter-chatter with the guy who shared the stats, he commented, "And the volume of women keeps growing. Escape from housework and kids?".
To which I added, "Women may also be more health conscious, and they have greater societal pressure to look good".
Our parkrun is now closed for the next few weeks with both bridge rebuilding needed and the new covid variant putting a damper on things. When we restart, I'll definitely keep an eye on the stats especially on the 18-24 age group numbers to see what is happening here. I hope this was a once-off, but I suspect it isn't.
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