Jackie Mekler

Jack Mekler, known as Jackie, born in Johannesburg on 4 March 1932, was a South African long-distance runner who won the Comrades Marathon five times as well as various other marathons around the world. He was sent to the Arcadia Orphanage at age nine, took up running at thirteen and joined the Germiston Callies club at sixteen. His first Comrades victory came in 1958, and he won again in 1964 and 1968. In 1960 he ran the up-run course in 5:56:32, the first time under six hours. He also won the London to Brighton Race, took silver in the marathon at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver and was South African marathon champion in 1954 and 1957. He published his autobiography, Running Alone, in 2019 and died in Cape Town that July.