KwaZulu-Natal will join the rest of the country in celebrating a weekend of activity with National Recreation Day on Friday and the countrywide series of Big Walks held in each of the provincial capital cities on Sunday.
Since 2015 National Recreation Day has been a government-legislated day of activity and all citizens are encouraged to take part in some form of exercise on the first Friday in October. Each provincial Department of Sport and Recreation organises events with the KwaZulu-Natal event taking place at the Esikhawini Campus of the uMfolozi TVET College in Richards Bay.
On Sunday many more people are expected to take part in the KZN leg of The Big Walk which is being held at the Msunduzi Athletics Stadium in Pietermaritzburg.
The Big Walk, which takes place over 5km and 10km distances, is a merger between the South African National Recreation Day and World Walking Day, which is celebrated around the world on the first Sunday in October every year.
Worldwide, more than 15 million people participate in organised walks on this day each year, while South African have attracted a total of more than 30 000 participants annually to the various Big Walks in the nine provincial capitals.
Sport and Recreation South Africa organises the national event in Tshwane each year, while the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport and Recreation is in charge of the Pietermaritzburg walk.
Entries for The Big Walk will also be taken at registration and race-pack collection on Thursday and Friday at the Department of Sport and Recreation offices in Pietermaritz Street, Pietermaritzburg, or at the Msunduzi Stadium on Saturday, October 5.
More details can be found at www.thebigwalkkzn.co.za.