Onnie’s run for school shoes
HALFWAY MARK: Teacher Irfaan Abrahams, 50, completed his 25th half marathon at Sea Point Promenade
A Mitchells Plain teacher completed his 25th half marathon (21km) at the Sea Point Promenade on Sunday to mark the halfway point of his goal to run 50 half marathons in order to get school shoes for 50 primary schools across the Kaap.
Irfaan Abrahams, a teacher at Liesbeeck Primary and an avid runner, started his project at the start of the year and is also part of an organisation called Lace Up 4 Change.
“I turned 50 last December and I decided to mark that by running 50 half-marathons in 2021 and we are asking for the public to come and support by donating R150 towards a pair of school shoes,” says the onnie.
“So far we have raised enough money for two schools and after today (Sunday), we are well on our way to helping a third.”
He says each school needs between 450 to 500 pairs of skoolskoene but he is confident that they will reach their goal.
“The first six months of the project was getting the word out but we are seeing that more and more people are interested in helping and we are starting to see donations come from all over. The hope is that we can soon approach businesses to sponsor a school.”
In order to spread the word, Irfaan and the rest of the runners from Lace Up 4 Change have extended their track and have already completed laps in Bayview, Witsands and their next target is on Saturday in Muizenberg.
“We have targeted to help 50 schools and it will mostly be in the rural areas in the Western Cape.”
If anybody wants to help Irfaan reach his goals or simply join him on a run, they can contact him on 084 283 9977.