Ela Meiring may be young in years, but she already has two Comrades marathons to her name, and on Sunday broke the 90 minute barrier at the Gun Run half marathon in Cape Town, finishing in a personal best time of 1hrs 29 min 28 seconds.

 I started coaching Ela two years ago when she was just 19, and she came to me with a dream.  She grew up running with her uncle, Francois, on a farm near Robertson in the Cape, where she still lives. Now 21 years old, Ela still does many of her long runs with Francois and I coach them both. 

Ela is one of those rare athletes, a runner with not just a vision, but also the commitment, drive and patience needed to make her vision become a reality. She has the ability to enjoy the training process, something which runners aiming for goals, easily lose.  She is a runner to watch in the future!