South Africans have been in lockdown for nearly two months now, and shifting down to Level 4 of the ‘soft lockdown’ means that there is slightly less restriction of movement. Government recently informed the public that there will be a three-hour window in which exercise outside of the house is allowed.
Capetonians take their physical exercise very seriously, and many have noted how crowded popular outdoor workout spots such as the Sea Point Promenade have been since the exercise allowance was announced. One man, however, made the extra effort to social distance and remain protected by having his morning jog in the oddest apparatus you may have seen rolling down Cape streets yet.
That’s right, he decided to go for a morning run in a plastic Zorb ball.
The man was quickly approached by police in Blouberg, so his Zorbing adventure was cut short – but we do hope he got a good jog out of it.
Zorbing involves people getting in a large plastic ball, very similar to a human hamster wheel, and propelling it forward by walking or running.
The activity was first established in the 1980s by the Dangerous Sports Club of England, and the original design included two chairs inside the ball. The design was eventually scrapped, as it was deemed too unsafe for human use.
Working from that idea, two friends from New Zealand – named Dwane van der Sluis and Andrew Akers – came up with a ball big enough for a person to stand in. It still drew inspiration from the hamster ball, but was safer for humans than the ball created by the Dangerous Sports Club of England.
Picture: Facebook/Screenshot/Joshua Rubin