In early May 2024, I got a message from Eric Venter saying, “Dear Running Mann – I was a category winner In the 60+ Two Oceans ultra. Besides the ‘No-Podium’, I have yet to hear from them regarding acknowledgement of my win or prize money – maybe it is something to look into…”
I had just exposed Two Oceans’ “Digimag Debacle” and explained that Two Oceans were giving me the silent treatment but passed the relevant contact information along and wished him well.
Eric mentioned “for interest’s sake” that his previous Two Oceans was almost forty years earlier in 1986. “Wow, that’s a long break between Oceans!” was my reply but it was his comment after that stuck with me, “I’m trying my best not to let the old man in.” Definitely a good mantra to live by!
Two years later and Mr. Venter was back in the centre of the winner’s circle as the fastest 60+ runner at Two Oceans as we continued the chat (this time it was easier for me to assist him with a query to the board).
After Comrades 2026, Eric sent me another “just for interest’s sake” query, this time asking, “Do you know what the longest gap on record between two Silver medals at Comrades is?” Of course Eric had a vested interest in finding out the answer. His Comrades record reads: four consecutive Silvers from 1983 to 1986, 37 years of DNSs, three consecutive Bill Rowans from 2023 to 2025 and then another Silver in 2026.
I replied that I doubted that there was anyone with a bigger gap between Silvers and promised to do a post to “ask the internet” to double-check (much more reliable than “phoning a friend”). Then, I decided that Eric’s feat deserved more than a mere social media post – hence this article!
As a young man in the mid-1980s, Eric ran for the Pretoria Police club and also secured three consecutive Silvers at Two Oceans in addition to his four consecutive Comrades Silvers. He ran his fastest Comrades, 6:49:50, in 1986 but that appeared to be his swansong.
I asked Eric, “Where did you disappear to for almost four decades?” and he explained, “I stopped running as I had to attend night classes at university to obtain my degree after hours whilst I still had a day job”
After getting his degree he says, “I ventured into different sports like skydiving, rap jumping and motorbikes.” I was intrigued by rap jumping – my best guess was this was listening to rap music and doing 10 star jumps every time you hear a swear word – but Eric explained, “Rap jumping is like abseiling – but instead of going down backwards you turn around and walk down a big building face forward with ropes.” I still contend that I was partially correct with my guess as I imagine that, like rap music, rap walking involves a lot of swearing.
After that Eric did “the full circle in scuba diving” moving from open water to instructor and then technical rebreather diving. Eric was another of those ex-runners who got a wake-up call in Covid when he realised that his increased weight meant was more comfortable in water than on land, “I realised that 97kg is not a good weight to be!”
Therefore, also like many ex-runners, Eric started the rehab process by getting into the parkrun circuit. With a few parkruns under his belt, he joined Wingate Road Runners and “before long it escalated to half marathons, marathons and back to Two Oceans and Comrades.”
Eric marked his return to Comrades in 2023 after a 37-year absence with his ‘slowest’ ever finish time of 7:48:08. He followed this up in 2024 and 2025 with another two ‘personal worsts’ of 7:56:29 and 7:58:00.
In the entire history of Comrades, there have only been 14 men who’ve managed to earn a Silver medal over the age of 60. So how did 62-year-old Eric Venter become the 15th? Eric credits the 7h30 bus but probably not in the way you think.
He told me, “I did not plan for a Silver but I caught up with the 7h30 bus on Fields Hill and I soon realised that buses and water stations are not good friends. There was a lot of elbow shuffling as the streets narrowed. So I worked my way past them with the aim to see how long I could stay ahead. The rest of the race went smoothly until the Lion Park at Umlaas road.”
I was always warned about mixing one’s drinks but at the Comrades Marathon you should be careful about mixing your muti, “I decided to switch to a sweeter gel… that wasn’t a good idea. My gut objected violently and I uttered a few mating calls that resonated well with the lions in Lion Park (and caused great concern amongst some of the spectators)”
Although this resulted in his television appearance up Polly Shortts not even being “Facebook grade”, Eric said he had “to dig deep” and, like a Zimbabwean petrol station, “pull the last 15km through with no fuel.” Exactly 40 years after earning his last Silver medal, Eric Venter crossed the line in 7:22:01 to cap a remarkable Comrades comeback.
However, it was not so much the time itself but finishing just over a minute ahead of Comrades’ Mr. Longevity that Eric will remember, “I was very chuffed that I could finish before Shaun Meiklejohn!” With 7:23:44 the 1995 winner, Shaun Meiklejohn, managed to finish under 7h30 for a record 33rd time (including 10 Golds) with his 34th finish.
They say that time waits for no man but Eric Venter is proving that some old Comrades runners are hard to catch up to. Eric started running again in order to “not to let the old man in” – and I would say he’s doing a pretty good job of slamming that particular door shut!
Afterward
Eric Venter and Shaun Meiklejohn finished second and third respectively in their age category. There was one 64-year-old who beat both of them for the Grandmaster prize, Boksburg AC’s David Gamede, who earned a record 4th Silver over 60 and finished in 7:11:18. David will be featured in a forthcoming article.
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Very insightful piece article, Mr. S Mann #Running Mann, thank you 🤝. His historical work performance provides us with moments of reflection and hope with humility towards Mr. E Venter #59136 runner 🏃🏻♂️
A truly gifted person and remarkable runner. I wish him well with his future races.
What happened with his Two oceans podium?