Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 153 October 2022 | Page 10

These are some of the standout performances in September from the annals of SA running .

5 September 1954

The late Jackie Mekler ’ s prodigious racing was legendary – he ran five marathons and two ultras ( including one Comrades ) by the time he was 21 . On this day , less than a month after his second place in the 1954 Empire Games Marathon in Vancouver , Canada , he made an attempt on the World Records for 40 and 50 miles on the Delville track in Germiston . Both records had been set in 1952 by Britain ’ s Derek Reynolds . The race started at 5:15am in the dark , with the track illuminated by car headlights , and Mekler clocked 4:18:14 for 40 miles to break the record by 66 seconds , and he went on to complete 50 miles in 5:24:27 , a full 5:55 quicker than Reynolds . Along the way , he also broke the record for 50km with 3:25:29 . In this year , he ran seven marathons and two ultras , as well as a number of shorter races .

Jackie Mekler

10 September 1977

From its beginning in 1965 the Stellenbosch Marathon saw some of South Africa ’ s best athletes winning the title , among them De Villiers Lamprecht ( twice ), Willie Olivier and Dave Levick . On this day , Brian Chamberlain joined this group when he improved his personal best by more than three minutes to win in 2:18:30 , a record for the six-lap course through the streets of the university town . He beat Andries Krogmann , who just a week earlier had won the SA Interprovincial Cross-country Title and was running his debut marathon , by 3:15 . A mere two weeks later , Chamberlain won the SA Marathon , and in 1978 he retained his Stellenbosch title .

5 September 1977

One of South Africa ’ s oldest marathons is the Golden Reef Marathon , which – under different names – has been held since 1956 and was run for the 65 ^th time earlier this year . It was called the Golden Reef race until 1983 , and in its early days it was run on a point-to-point course from Brakpan to Johannesburg . On this day its 22nd running was won , for the second year in a row , by Alan Robb . The Comrades champion , who earlier that year had set a new record for the “ Up Run ,” clocked 2:32:53 to beat Neil Coville by 93 seconds . The previous year , Robb had run 2:28:27 . The women ’ s race also went to a two-time Comrades champion and like Robb , Lettie van Zyl also got her second victory in a row in 3:39:30 . Both would score their third successive Comrades wins in 1978 .

Alan Robb ( middle )

Brian Chamberlain

South African Road List Leaders for 2022 ( As at 22 August 2022 ) This section lists the best South African performance for each of the most popular road distances .

MEN

24 September 2003

The Spookhill 15km race in Somerset West is probably the most difficult race over this distance in the Western Cape . The men ’ s race went to Neo Molema in 50:01 , while on the women ’ s side , one of South Africa ’ s best female ultra-runners , Farwa Mentoor , scored her fourth victory in 1:00:46 . Mentoor , who also won in 1998 , 1999 and 2001 , and only Zintle Xiniwe has won it more time , with five wins .