Twenty Comrades Marathons and counting

For some, running and completing one Comrades Marathon is a feat worthy of going on a bucket list, but for one Randfontein runner, one was not enough.

Jan Meyer, 66, founding member of the Randmark Run, Walk, Cycle Club, recently completed his 20th Comrades Marathon.

At the age of 30 Jan started running, and only five months later he completed his first Comrades. Jan said the time he trained for was on average not nearly enough preparation needed to complete the marathon but he finished it nonetheless.

One year later, while running for the Krugersdorp Running Club, Jan and a few other runners decided to establish their own running club in Randfontein.

After that, Jan and his wife completed the Athens Marathon of 42,2 kilometres in Greece and later they ran the Mauritius Marathon with other members of the club. Jan completed two 100 mile races (that’s approximately 321 kilometres each) too, one of them requiring contestants to run for approximately 24 hours without rest.

After completing his 10th Comrades, Jan received his permanent green number, 17892, with a golden wreath on either side of the number. This qualification is only given to people who have completed 10 Comrades Marathons. What made his 10th marathon special is the fact that two of his children celebrated the 90 km race by running the marathon with him. It is safe to say Jan has passed his love of running on to the next generation!

At the age of 60, Jan finished the Comrades in one of his best recorded times – 8 hours and 4 minutes, and for his efforts, received the first Grandmaster prize at the finish. This prize is only awarded to runners aged 60 years and over.

Last year, Jan completed his 20th marathon, and received another golden wreath on either side of his official number. He now has two golden rows alongside his number, with each row symbolising 10 completed marathons.

Jan’s advice for those who want to run the Comrades is to take action and start training. “The distance between your dreams and reality is action. There’s nothing stopping you,” he said.

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