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NATIONAL
TREASURES
They might wake up in the morning feeling
ordinary, but when these men and women step
outside, they enjoy a special power. Theyve
distinguished themselves on the world stage
and in many cases, their inuence is immense.
Their chief feat? An enduring greatness.
YVONNE CHAKA CHAKA
VOICE OF AFRICA
Her recent album, Amazing Man, addresses issues such as substance
abuse, poverty, greed, war, even counterfeit medicines thorny modern
problems that affect ordinary people. And her latest single is a song about
teen pregnancy with rapper Reason. But Yvonne Chaka Chakas social
activism goes far beyond lyrics. A long-time Unicef Goodwill Ambassador
and fervent advocate of the Rollback Malaria Partnership, Chaka Chaka
continues to champion those in need through philanthropy as well as
music. From a poor Dobsonville childhood to a 30-year international
career, shes become the Princess of Africa but has not lost her common
touch, and its through her perseverance and consistency, her ability to
keep doing the right thing (through her own foundation), that has made
her the humanitarian award-winning legend she is. In the past few
months, her work has taken her to Japan, South Korea, Brussels and the
International Aids Conference in Australia, and shell soon be addressing
the UN General Assembly and the UKs House of Lords. Occasionally
venturing into political spaces (We have too many leaders who cling to
power it would be good for them to have learnt from Madiba), Chaka
Chaka seems to be growing in stature. As an artist, she has always
commanded the space around her; as an activist shes gained a new
gravitas. As the voice for the vulnerable, she is deafening.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
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WILLIAM KENTRIDGE
A VISUAL VISIONARY
His diverse yet distinctive multimedia works are
a fantastic collision of painting, stop-motion animation,
tapestry, theatre, opera and puppetry, but with drawing
at the heart of it. His art draws on varied sources,
including philosophy and literature, to create a complex
universe where good and evil are complementary and
inseparable forces. It has won William Kentridge
prestigious honours: the Kyoto Prize for his contributions
to the arts and philosophy; the Carnegie Medal (also
bestowed on Picasso and Jackson Pollack); and Goslar
Kaiserring (previous recipients include Max Ernst,
Joseph Beuys, Willem de Kooning and Henry Moore).
His stage productions have astonished audiences his
latest, Schuberts Winterreise, is being seen in Austria,
France, the Netherlands and US. In recent years he has
had exhibitions at Documenta in Kassel, MoMA in
New York, Jeu de Paume and the Louvre in Paris, and
museums in Vienna, So Paulo, Rio and Japan. His video
and sound installation The Refusal of Time has been
presented this year alone in New York, Perth, Kyoto,
Helsinki and, soon, in SA; his cineconcert of projections
to live music by Philip Miller is currently in Florence and
plays New Yorks Carnegie Hall next month. Wherever it
is, Kentridge is a name to be measured by.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
NATALIE DU TOIT
BRILLIANCE BEYOND THE POOL
When Natalie du Toit
was awarded an MBE
(Member of the Most
Excellent Order of the
British Empire) last year,
for her extraordinary
contribution to Paralympian
sport, she accepted it with
her usual warmth and
modesty, thanking all who
believed in me and stayed
by my side. But Du Toit
has another side. A gutsy,
driven, deant side. Its
what got the swimmer
back in the water after
her leg was amputated
following a scooter
accident; its what
motivated her through
countless hours in the
pool, back and forth,
back and forth. Its what
drove her to compete
for 10 years of disabled
Commonwealth, World
Champs and Paralympic
competitions, inspiring
all those around her. And
its what compelled her
to go even further: to
compete in able-bodied
events (she was the rst
disabled athlete in 100
years to do so, in the
open-water swim at the
2008 Beijing Olympics).
She has earned a wall-full
of medals and shown
that determination can
turn disability into
ability, disadvantage into
advantage. Today, apart
from charity work, Du
Toits involvement with
the SA Institute for Drug
Free sport has heralded
a new ght: keeping sport
clean. What makes an
athlete great, you ask?
When they reveal the true
heart of a champion.
Read last years prole
on citypress.co.za
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LUCAS RADEBE
THE GOAL STANDARD
Things have come full circle for Lucas Radebe hes
linked to a consortium bidding to buy his former club,
Leeds United, where he became a world-famous footballer.
Soccers Mr Nice Guy is a legend to legions of fans around
the world and an inspiration to the South Africans who
now play for local and international clubs. He went
from the streets of Soweto, via Kaizer Chiefs, to the very
pinnacle of the English Premier League, spending 11 years
at Leeds United from 1994 (in that time, he also represented
SA with Bafana Bafana 70 times including when they
won the African Nations Cup in 1996). Those heydays
may be behind him, but Radebe is continuing his
inspirational endeavours off the eld. In addition to his
role as ambassador for Hospice, Laureus, SOS Childrens
Villages, Beyond Sport and the Special Olympics, his
own Learning with Lucas initiative is all about education,
opportunity and upliftment. Hes recently brought the
popular American Highlights for Children educational
magazine to SA, and through the Dreamelds project
helps distribute soccer resources to schools in need.
What could be more thrilling for a soccer-crazy kid than
to be given a new pair of boots by Rhoo?
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
RICHARD
GOLDSTONE
IN SAFE HANDS
When Richard Goldstone was four, his grandfather decreed that the little boy from
Benoni would one day work in law. The old man could never have foreseen that
Goldstone would earn a reputation as one of the most trusted and admired legal minds
in the world. Where there is trouble and strife, when fair deliberation and championing
of human rights are needed, Goldstone is on speed dial. Fortunately, he has never been
afraid of wading into troubled waters. His grounding came early on, ghting the system
from the inside as a Supreme Court judge during apartheid and heading up commissions
of inquiry into political violence during the 90s. He was an architect of our Constitution,
served in the Constitutional Court, was chief prosecutor for the UNs International
Criminal Tribunals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda (where he had rape recognised as a war
crime) and headed up the UNs 2011 fact-nding mission on Israels invasion of Gaza (for
which he received death threats). Goldstone is the rst Scholar-in-Residence at the new
Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice in New York (to be opened by Ko
Annan in October), where he will continue to advocate tolerance, democracy and human
rights. His is a simple strategy, really: do whats right, even if its hard.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
ATHOL FUGARD
& JOHN KANI
MASTERS OF STAGECRAFT
In 1985 John Kani starred with Matthew Broderick in the
lm version of Athol Fugards play, Master Harold and the
Boys. It had been 20 years since Fugard and Kani rst met,
in a theatre company in Port Elizabeth, and went on to
create two iconic Struggle works: Sizwe Banzi is Dead and
The Island. These are still staged regularly around the world
most notably in 2013 at Londons Young Vic Theatre
along with Fugards other works. Time has called him the
greatest living playwright in the English-speaking world,
and he seems to be getting more prolic as the years pass;
Fugard, who has honorary degrees from Princeton, Yale and
Brown and is a professor at UCLA San Diego (though hes
never truly left SA), has penned 39 plays. In his lengthy
acting career, Kani has worked with Marlon Brando, Ralph
Fiennes, Michael Douglas and Chiwetel Ejiofor and last
year directed his son Atandwa in a new production of The
Island at the Market Theatre in Joburg. Hes also written
two acclaimed plays, Nothing But the Truth and Missing.
For their efforts, Fugard and Kani have both won Tony and
Obie Awards, and many others to boot. These two great men
came from opposite worlds, at a time when people were
kept apart, but together theyve left an invaluable legacy.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za G
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NATIONAL TREASURES
ABDULLAH IBRAHIM
GIANT OF JAZZ
Abdullah Ibrahim is not the retiring type. At almost
80 hes just released, to customary international
acclaim, a new album, Mukashi (meaning the old days
Japanese culture has been a powerful inuence for
him; hes a veteran black belt in martial arts). Ibrahim,
whose extraordinary piano skill was introduced to the
jazz world by none other than Duke Ellington, has been
so prolic and so successful for so long, its easy to be
blas about his musical contribution. This man is a titan
who pioneered a whole new genre, Cape jazz an
amalgam of his mothers gospel songs, township jive,
American jazz, Cape Malay and classical music. It was
considered too unsophisticated for music companies
in apartheid South Africa, so Ibrahim (then known as
Dollar Brand) and his group made their own record.
The result was his iconic 17-minute Mannenberg,
recorded in one take. It would dene a culture and
capture the heart of a country; some call it the unofcial
national anthem. Although Ibrahim has lived most of
his life abroad much of it in exile and sold out every
major venue in the world, he cannot cut his African
umbilical cord. He returns often to perform and visit
the music academy he started here. If America came
up with cool, Ibrahim simply warmed it up a little.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
JOHNNY CLEGG
A SINGULAR VOICE
After 30-plus years in the business, Johnny Clegg has emerged as not only a powerful
uniting force but one of SAs greatest storytellers. Listening to his songs is an emotive
journey through the modern history of our country Asimbonanga, Osiyeza, Scatterlings
of Africa all resonate with meaning. His recent concerts have seen him pausing the
music and sharing anecdotes and ideas with the audience hes an anthropologist as
well as an activist. So the news that hes working on an autobiography and a musical
based on his life is not entirely unexpected, but exciting nevertheless. His own story is
truly inspiring from dodging apartheid police to hang out at migrant hostels as a teen
in Joburg, to eventually getting to sing his Struggle song about Nelson Mandela to
Madiba on stage in Frankfurt in 1997. Our French knight (an honour bestowed in 1991)
has sold over ve million albums; one of these Grammy nominated, another winning
a Billboard Music Award. Hes a regular on the touring and festival circuit in North
America and Europe; a notable highlight this year was performing a homage to Mandela
at the World Festival of Sacred Music in Morocco in June. Now entering his 60s, hes
become a true African elder, with all the respect and honour that that implies.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za G
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This month is the 30th
anniversary of Burnout, the
song that became an anthem
for all South Africans in the
year that PW Botha declared
a State of Emergency. It
went on to sell over 500 000
copies. I call it an ancestral
gift, Sipho Mabuse says.
I wrote it on the piano in
ve minutes. Mabuse is
SA music royalty who has
helped shape our musical
identity over the past 40
years. His early success was
as frontman of Harari
a 70s soul-funk-pop-jazz
sensation that toured the
US with Hugh Masekela
in 1978, and was the rst
black band on SA television
(in 1979). In 1982 their disco
track Party made the
Billboard Top 100 chart,
a rst for an African band.
After Harari split, Mabuse
hit it big with Burnout and
released three more solo
albums, took a break from
the business, then returned
as a more mature multi-
instrumentalist (he plays
piano, various drums and
percussion, ute and sax).
Hes gigged all over the
world, from France and
Italy to Carnegie Hall, and
was a star of the 46664
concerts, in London (2008)
and New York (2009). In
2012 he returned to school
to get his matric, aged 61,
inspiring a new generation.
Next up? A degree in
anthropology, in between
his developmental work in
the local music industry
and his regular gigging.
SIPHO HOTSTIX MABUSE
STILL STEAMIN MUSO
PIETER-DIRK UYS
THE PEOPLES POLITICIAN
He was once called a kitchen clown by then Minister in the Presidency, Essop Pahad
an attempt to dismiss Pieter-Dirk Uyss strident message against the Mbeki governments
denialist response to the HIV/Aids pandemic. He might use humour as his weaponry,
but Uyss message has always been super serious. It has made this unafraid entertainer
probably our most important (and loved) activist. It has also won him wide international
acclaim. Courageous, passionate, committed, hes been at it for over 40 years and doesnt
seem ready to park off on his Darling stoep either. In the 80s, Uyss political satire took
the face of homeland ambassador Evita Bezuidenhout who through laughter showed
there was more to unite us than divide us, and became one of the most powerful voices
against apartheid. Today, the tactics are the same but the messages still urgent: Uys now
champions HIV/Aids education, freedom of expression and the importance of voting. Ever
the artist, there are new incarnations: novels, Evitas tweets (@TannieEvita) and seven
productions to celebrate his 70th birthday in 2015. Behind the big hair and make-up, theres
a courageous man whos left an indelible mark. To quote the LA Times: Uys dons false
eyelashes and presidents listen. To those who laughed at this clown, the jokes on them.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
6 1 00 WOR L D C L AS S S OUT H AF R I C ANS
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NATIONAL TREASURES
PETER MAGUBANE
WITNESS TO HISTORY
A Struggle Without Documentation is No Struggle wise
words, and the title of an exhibition of Peter Magubanes
work that toured SA this year. He was there with his
camera when our history was being made at Sharpeville
(1960), the Rivonia Trial (1964), the 1976 Soweto Uprising,
the 80s State of Emergency, and when Mandela walked
free in 1990. Hes seen it all and recorded it, on assignment
for top publications, including Time and National
Geographic. His work documented life from a perspective
that was largely unseen by the wider world at the time:
that of black South Africans living under apartheid. But
his reputation as a fearless photographer with a keen eye
did not come overnight, nor was it easy; it came at great
cost Magubane was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned,
shot at, banned from taking photos for ve years, and
spent 18 months in solitary connement. Now, six decades
later, with seven honorary degrees, 21 books, exhibitions
all around the world from Moscow to Sweden to Chicago
and many awards behind him, the man who has seen it
all hasnt slowed down and hasnt stopped looking. Hes
currently working on projects about the Afrikaners of
yesterday and today, and rites of passage of all the cultures
in SA, a documentary called Magubanes South Africa, and
a blockbuster show with American photographer Spider
Martin, who documented segregation in the South, tours
South Africa and the US concurrently next year.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
WALLY SEROTE
HEALER OF A NATIONS SOUL
Using both words and his heart as medicine, Wally Serote has dedicated his life to being
a healer. Whether as a sangoma, in his role as CEO of Freedom Park a national monument to
healing and liberation built in 2007 or as playwright, author and poet, restoration is a
recurrent theme in his work. His latest project is iARi, an organisation anchored in indigenous
knowledge systems that aims to stimulate leloko, the African concept of extended family
to contribute to social cohesion and the African Renaissance. He has garnered several
international awards for his work, including the Golden Wreath in 2012 for Lifetime
Achievement in Poetry (a celebrated Black Consciousness poet during apartheid, he has
published 14 volumes of poetry). Last year he was appointed chairman of the newly formed
Joburg City Theatres (a merger of the three main venues in the city); his fth novel, Rumours,
was published (and snapped up by major online retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon);
and his latest play The Way We Heal was on the lineup at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival.
Though written in a local context, a line from the play resonates universally: To heal is to
heal, so heal in the manner you can heal. Serote is speaking from experience.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
WINNIE MANDELA
FREEDOM FIGHTER
The Mother of the Nation is very effective at dividing it. Some love her as one of
the most outspoken, visible opponents of apartheid; others vilify her as a dangerous
demagogue whose reputation still bubbles with scandal and speculation. Shes complex,
mysterious, mercurial, seven different women in one, as UK actress Naomie Harris,
who played her in the lm Long Walk To Freedom, described Winnie. Where once her
hot-headed words and deeds worked against her (her radicalism, affairs, alleged running
of a Soweto football team as her vigilante gang against police informants), time might
have mellowed Mandela. Although an MP and member of the ANCs National Executive
Committee, she now maintains a relatively low political prole. Her appearances that
stir reaction are on her daughters reality TV show, her ITN interview talking of Nelson
Mandelas last moments, or hugging his widow Graa Machel at the memorial service.
For some, Harriss portrayal of her in the internationally successful biopic has gone
some way to cleanse her stained past. While seemingly peripheral (Nelson Mandela left
her out of his will), one can never assume that Winnie Mandela is out of the spotlight.
Such is her undeniable populist power.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
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LADYSMITH BLACK
MAMBAZO
AMBASSADORS OF SONG
Formed after Joseph Shabalala had a series of dreams
about a choir in the early 60s, their career has been
a dream come true in both senses of the phrase. In
January this year, the KZN-based choral superstars beat
Femi Kuti and Ravi Shankar to share the Grammy Award
for Best World Music album with the Gipsy Kings their
fourth Grammy in a 50-year career of making joyous and
uplifting music. Theyre regulars on the Grammy lists,
with 15 nominations in addition to their wins. The album,
whose title perfectly describes the choirs mission
Singing for Peace Around the World was recorded
during their 2011 and 2012 world tours; Ladysmith Black
Mambazo spend at least seven months of every year
touring, calling themselves a mobile academy that
teaches people about SA culture. They were already the
most successful singing group in SA when Paul Simon
discovered them in the 80s, and theyre now a global
cultural phenomenon, pitching up in sometimes
surprising places: singing Peace Train with Dolly Parton;
providing a soundtrack for a Heinz commercial in the
UK; singing about Fair Trade; being parodied on iconic
US TV show Saturday Night Live; and featuring on
numerous movie soundtracks from Eddie Murphys
comedy Coming to America to the inspiring Invictus.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
MARK SHUTTLEWORTH
UNTAPPING UBUNTU
Look, now I have options, declared tech entrepreneur
Mark Shuttleworth in somewhat of an understatement
when he sold his internet security company, Thawte,
to US software giant Verisign for $575 million in 1999.
He was already a millionaire, operating his business out
of a house in Durbanville, Cape Town. These days hes
a citizen of the world and beyond. Shuttleworth was
famously the rst African in space and the worlds second
space tourist. He paid $20 million and trained for a year
to visit the International Space Station, where he spent
just over a week in 2002 participating in, among other
things, experiments around Aids research. Prior to this,
Shuttleworth had started Here Be Dragons (HBD),
a venture capital provider and business incubator for
technology start-ups (so others might follow in his
footsteps). Similarly, the Shuttleworth Foundation invests
in social innovators people, he says, who positively
contribute to change. In 2004 he established Canonical,
which supports free software projects, especially the
Ubuntu operating system. Ubuntu runs on computers and
smartphones and is open source, which means people are
encouraged to help improve it and distribute it. The idea
is that everyone should have access to computers and
mobile devices and the software that runs them. Now
thats ubuntu, 21st-century style.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
DAVIDSKI
KRAMER
CULTURAL
CHRONICLER
With Blood Brothers this
year, David Kramer pulled
off a major scoop it was
the rst time top UK
playwright Willy Russell
had allowed someone to
adapt his hit musical (24
years on the West End)
to suit a local audience.
Kramer shifted the storys
setting from Liverpool to
Cape Town, changing the
dialogue and music to
suit it. Kramer has always
honoured local expression
in his work, casting a light
on what has often been
overlooked; from his rst
hit show District Six: The
Musical, in 1987, to his
persona as a musician
rooted in a culture thats
not only sidelined but
rapidly being lost, that of
platteland communities.
His lifelong mission had
been to uncover a local
folk music tradition, and
with Karoo Kitaar Blues in
2003 he did, presenting
musicians with amazing
talent to the world. It was
followed by Kalahari
Karoo Blues in 2013. Next
month, Kramer will take
his unique showmanship
to Carnegie Hall in New
York, and stage a new
musical in SA in January.
Stellenbosch University
recently awarded Kramer
an honorary doctorate in
philosophy, for 30 years as
a cultural philosopher
they nailed it: there is no
better description of him.
Read last years prole
on citypress.co.za
VUSI MAHLASELA
LYRICAL THINKER
Hes made three appearances on the TED circuit the inuential global lecture series in
which remarkable people share their stories and ideas and recently toured America
with US folk-blues legends Taj Mahal and compatriot Johnny Clegg. Coming up hell be
joining Hugh Masekela on stage in a 13-gig 20 Years of Freedom tour of North America.
Vusi Mahlaselas international stature is growing by the year, yet he still lives in Mamelodi
where he grew up in the turbulent 1970s and where he made his rst tin-can guitar,
started writing protest songs, and got into a lot of trouble with the apartheid police. For
more than a decade he sang at political gatherings, at funerals, wherever he was needed,
but it wasnt until Mandela was freed that he could make his rst album and the world
would hear his inspirational songs. His current album, Sing to the People, is a live
recording celebrating his 20 years in the business, during which he has collaborated with
dozens of international musicians. His mission has always been to spread the message of
freedom and forgiveness, and hes always welcomed others to share the stage with him
Sting, Josh Groban, Paul Simon, Dave Matthews have all had the honour. But its when
he stands alone in the spotlight, with just his guitar and his voice (The Voice), that he
makes his biggest impact humble yet powerful and unforgettable.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za G
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NATIONAL TREASURES
CAIPHUS SEMENYA & LETTA MBULU
DYNAMIC DUO
When youve been performing together longer than youve been married about half
a century youve had a long career, especially in the ckle music business. But when
youve had a career together so rich in world-class output, well, thats unique. And so
it is with our venerable star couple, golden-voiced Letta Mbulu and ingenious composer/
musician Caiphus Semenya. The duo, who met in 1959 working on a theatre musical,
went on to collaborate with international entertainment greats, including Nina Simone,
Harry Belafonte and Michael Jackson. Mbulu wrote hits for Miriam Makeba and often
featured on Semenyas best work, including TV series Roots and Steven Spielbergs
lm The Color Purple. Semenya wrote the score for both, as well as the melody for
Quincy Joness Grammy-winning Back on the Block. A few years after returning from
exile, he had the honour of creating the soundtrack to one of SAs greatest days in
history: Mandelas presidential inauguration and last year featured on the soundtrack
of the movie about the man, Long Walk to Freedom. The couple have made an immense
contribution to music and South Africas liberation struggle, and last year they were
honoured by Unisa Semenya is now a doctor of musicology; Mbulu a doctor of
philosophy and literature.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
CHARLIZE THERON
HOLLYWOOD HIGH PRIESTESS
Dont let her handsome looks fool you. Charlize Theron is acknowledged as one of the
most versatile actors in Hollywood: fearless, authentic, passionate. Shes also making
a name for herself as a producer in that cut-throat world. Therons career has followed
a Cinderella-like trajectory, from a smallholding in Benoni to taking the microphone at
the Oscars. Shes become a fashion icon, the face of exclusive beauty brands and is one of
the most watched women on the paparazzi roll-call. But its her extraordinary acting that
still makes her queen of the big screen. Her range is limitless Theron is known to take on
roles others dont have the courage to accept. Now in her late 30s, shes at the apex of her
career. She may live in LA but Therons heart still belongs to Africa. Deeply conscious of
HIV/Aids, this UN Messenger of Peace set up her Africa Outreach Project in 2007 to fund
mobile clinics that travel around rural areas of southern Africa to ght the pandemic (for
this, shes been named a WEF Young Global Leader for 2014). That underlying sensitivity
and the emotions attached to it have fed her gift, one that she ensures keeps giving. Little
wonder her beau, Sean Penn himself a crusader of note has gone gaga over her.
Read last years prole on citypress.co.za
BRUCE FORDYCE
KING OF THE ROAD
Its hard to say the words Comrades Marathon without
immediately thinking of Bruce Fordyce, who won the
world-famous 90km race between Pietermaritzburg and
Durban a record nine times a feat no other runner has
managed in its 89-year history. He achieved eight of those
wins in consecutive years, effectively owning the event.
Fordyce ran his rst Comrades in 1977, coming 43rd; he
then won the London to Brighton ultra marathon three
years in a row (1981 to 1983). His rst Comrades victory
was in 1981, too, wearing a black armband to protest
apartheid. Fordyce dominated for the rest of the decade,
and his nal victory at the Comrades was in 1990. He
never made it to the Olympics SA was welcomed back
in 1992 but he remains one of the greatest long-distance
runners ever. The Comrades King ran his last one in 2012,
claiming his 30th medal and crossing the line with Zola
Budd, the 80s barefoot track sensation who was running
her rst Comrades. Fordyce has continued to run, and has
won races in the veterans categories. Hes also encouraging
everyone else to run, too his parkrun project is a health/
tness initiative that holds free, weekly timed 5km runs
open to all; so far, over 125 000 people have registered.
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