Spiderman” is causing a stir in Durbanville – especially when he runs past the primary and pre-primary schools in town.
According to 51-year-old Andrew Worrall from Vergesig, he is greeted with loud cheers by young and old.
At the Durbanville Primary School the learners hang out of their classroom windows to cheer him on when he does his rounds on a Friday morning.
He will be running past the main entrance of the school this coming Friday again at 08:10.
Once an elderly woman stopped in a busy road to shout to him “Go Spiderman!”
Worrall, a financial advisor, is training to take part in the Cape Town Marathon on 16 October in his Spiderman suit.
He runs about 10 km around the local schools in Durbanville.
Worrall is not wearing the suit while training, but only to get used to running in it. Also, to create awareness of his cause, to raise funds for the Children’s Hospital Trust.
“I also want to bring smiles to children’s faces and those of a lot of adults too, as they hoot and wave and call out to me,” he said. Many people stop him to have their photograph taken with him. He says he is not yet ready to reveal his real face – just like a proper Spiderman – and that is his secret for now.
Worrall says he has notified all schools, nursery schools, neighbourhood watches and security companies of his purpose “mainly for security purposes.
“The reason I chose Spiderman is that I like him. I like to think I am built like Spiderman. I suppose I am reliving my childhood.”
His own children, twins aged 16 years and an 18-year-old, aren’t even slightly embaressed at all by their dad’s routine. On the contrary, they share the excitement, he says.
The Spiderman suit was a gift from a collector in Amanda Glen, Durbanville.
All funds raised are in aid of the Children’s Hospital Trust Fund and will be used to expand the paediatric outpatients ward at the Victoria Hospital in Wynberg.
The ward is currently not adequate enough to treat the many children who come in for treatment, Worrall says.
“It will be a challenge to run the entire marathon in a Spiderman suit, but it won’t come close to the challenges our sick and hurt children face,” he says.
Support Andrew Worrall by donating on www.givengain.com/ap/andrew-worrall-raising-funds-for-the-childrens-hospital-trust-49769.
