You can tell a lot about a city by running along its streets.

In Cape Town, the handsome promenade offers sweeping sea and mountain views, and a collegial atmosphere for runners, walkers and cyclists. Evidently, this city values the well-being of its people.

Compare Johannesburg’s suburbs, where the jacarandas and English oaks provide a heart-warming counterpoint to the unkempt streets and their broken pavements. This is not a city whose priorities lie in ensuring that road runners – or indeed, weary pedestrians – are particularly well accommodated.

Occasionally, a city will present contrasting facades. Durban, for instance, has a splendid 8km promenade, all the way from Blue Lagoon in the north to the harbour in the south; sub-Saharan Africa’s longest such stretch. A walk, a bike ride or a run along its spectacular trajectory is life-affirming. With the beaches and the local cuisine, it ranks among the city’s most appealing attractions.

…road running and walking were among the few recreational pursuits that survived – and thrived – in the height of the pandemic…

Yet barely blocks away, the inner city is loud and angry. Few joggers attempt to run its streets – not with wild taxis and rubbish-strewn streets to navigate.

In New York, Central Park offers distance, sumptuous pathways and gawking at colourful passers-by. Las Vegas is fun, but chaotic, with escalators and casino hallways linking streets and byways along the Strip in the City of Sin.

In Europe, cities such as Monte Carlo have paths that hug the glorious coastline, offering the chance to run along many of the winding roads that make up the renowned Grand Prix circuit.

But wherever you are – in South Africa, or anywhere else – one of the unintended consequences of the 2020 lockdown has been the increase in numbers of people taking to the streets, either to walk or to jog. With gyms closed and team sport shut down, road running and walking were among the few recreational pursuits that survived – and thrived – in the height of the pandemic.

Road running is experiencing a boom.

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Research from Nielsen, the intelligence supplier to World Athletics, indicates that 13% of all runners began their running in the past year (since April 2020), and the majority say that Covid-19 played at least some part in that decision. All intend to carry on running once the pandemic is over, whenever that might be.

South Africa was among the 10 countries surveyed, along with the UK, US, Japan and Australia .

A recent study from RunRepeat found that 28% of current runners got started in the sport during the pandemic. It doesn’t matter which report is more accurate; those are astonishing numbers, any way you look at it.

Remarkably, a slew of running records, from 1 500m to 10 000m, were broken at the height of the pandemic – another unintended consequence of lockdown, super-shoes, and perhaps limited crowd numbers.

Even housebound souls found a way to activate their lactic acid. Some, like elite long-distance devotee Ryan Sandes, ran marathon distances at home, treading the same route over and over. A handful of committed Comrades athletes heroically ran the equivalent distance of the great race (89km) in their gardens.

We don’t know how lucky we are. In Europe, some hardy souls slogged full 42.2km distances around their cramped apartment balconies, a mind-boggling feat of similitude.

So finally, when we were allowed out of our homes, people poured into the streets. There are no official numbers, but anecdotally (and observably), many more than ever were opting to exercise on the roads.

With mental health thrust into public consciousness in recent years, running has yet another attribute to trumpet. As US author Toni Sorensen puts it, “Running is therapy anyone can afford.”

Running has a charm all its own. Its social dimension is substantial; so too the endorphins it triggers, bestowing feelings of well-being and pleasure.

Its ultimate appeal, however, may lie in its simplicity. Everyone, and anyone, can be a runner. It is the ultimate egalitarian pastime.

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