On Sunday 31 May at a shade past one o’ clock, Shaun Meiklejohn crossed the finish line of the 2015 Comrades Marathon. First master and sixty-fifth overall in 6:39, the Orion Athletic Club athlete had completed his twenty-seventh voyage between Durban and Pietermaritzurg. Twenty seven Comrades finishes: the mind boggles at the sheer thought. Closer inspection of Meiklejohn’s palmares, though, is even more staggering.
Ten consecutive gold medals, including overall victory in 1995, are sandwiched between seventeen silvers, his first being way back in 1982 as a raw twenty year-old. Such a track record is perhaps unrivalled and Meiklejohn’s consistency could possibly be one the most underrated achievements in Comrades Marathon history.
“I’m just taking it one year at a time,” says Meiklejohn of his continuing ultra-marathon success. “I figure that if I’m healthy and enjoying my running, then taking part in Comrades is still viable. It all depends on the body and mind.”
In Meiklejohn’s case, “taking part” is almost a misnomer. Take his 2015 performance for instance: 268th through halfway, the Pretoria-born runner maintained his metronomic pace to make up over two hundred places by the time he reached the finish in Pietermaritzburg. And like many a wily Comrades veteran will attest, success in this sort of event is dependent on sticking to what you know and not getting carried away early on.
“I was aiming to equal my 2013 “up” run time of 6:46,” he explains. “Especially given the extra distance this year, that sort of time would have been fine with me. Everything just came together on the day, though. I went through halfway in 3:18 and was feeling pretty good. Catching the Nurgalieva twins on the outskirts of Maritzburg was a good sign; my pace had picked up to just over four minutes per kilometer by then. Finishing in the same time as my 2014 “down” run was quite a surprise.”
Key to Meiklejohn’s continued Comrades success is not going into what he terms the “red zone.” Be it in a race or in training, a certain level of restraint is critical if athletic longevity is to be preserved, case in point Comrades 2015.
“I watched my heart rate throughout Comrades, not going over 140 beats. I was actually looking at my heart rate monitor stats the other day and my effort was even the whole way, a straight line on the graph.”
Now at fifty-three years of age, Meiklejohn is showing no signs of slowing down. He is keen to point out, however, that his performances of the past few years can also be attributed to a factor many athletes seek to avoid: time off.
“After Comrades 2003, I really needed a break,” he says, going to add that his participation that year was perhaps for the wrong reasons. “I had started the previous few years with minor injuries and was really running just to get my twenty-first finish. So I stopped running after that, gained fifteen kilograms and took up golf.”
That six year hiatus proved pivotal, a catharsis of sorts. His body healed and his mind rejuvenated, late 2009 saw Meiklejohn return to the local road running scene with renewed enthusiasm and purpose.
“I went on a strict diet of no sugar, wheat, dairy or booze, losing all of the weight I had put on during that period. I started training again, pretty much by feel, following what I used to do and observing the hard day/easy day mantra. Nothing fancy; just basic mileage and listening to my body. I kept surprising myself at how quickly I got back into shape.”
With twenty years having passed since his overall victory, Meiklejohn’s name is invariably associated with the likes of Nick Bester and Charl Mattheus. These three athletes were the local standard bearers of Comrades in 1990s, taking over the mantle after the Fordyce-era of the previous decade.
If Bester is synonymous with the “Ysterman” tag given his multi-sport exploits and Mattheus’ legacy includes overcoming adversity and self-doubt in the Rocky Mountains, how then does Meiklejohn view his own identity amongst this vaunted South African trio of yesteryear?
“That I look like Bruce Fordyce,” he jokes, though not without some hint of seriousness. “It all started in 1989 when I led Comrades for a while. Fordyce was commentating that year, after having won the Standard Bank 100km Invitational and took a lot of flak from his colleagues about his “double” being out on the course.
“Seriously though, I would like to think that my consistency shaped my identity. Sure, the likeness to Fordyce was a factor but I have much less hair now. In fact, this year was the first time where nobody called me Bruce out on the race route.”
With Comrades now over, Meiklejohn is focusing on recovery and staying healthy. Although he is looking ahead to the Cape Town Marathon in September, serious training is now on the backburner for a while.
“I went for an easy 15km run yesterday to see how my body is feeling and all is surprisingly good at this point. I’m looking forward to running in Cape Town later this year but that is way down the road at this stage.
“Rest is on the cards for now. And trying not to get sick.”
