change is that children now believe they can. Kids on the programme said ‘’my mom said you cannot do that and I proved them wrong’’. So it’s on that level that I would like to measure success. It’s when children start believing that you are not trapped in a cycle of poverty and hopelessness, that you can get out of it.’

Meyer, who always wanted to be a runner, says she also valued education even though her choice of university – Stellenbosch – was influenced by the Maties’ prowess in athletics. ‘My drive all along was to be the fastest runner in the world.’

international running circuit – during which she broke five world records – she says she wants to share with future generations the freedom of choice that running gave her. ‘You can decide what you want to do and what you want to be in life but you have to back it up with steps to get there. I have always been inspired by little steps of achievement. My reference was not that I always had to be first to be successful.’

‘That is why I always encourage people to stay with their passion. I loved running. I love the freedom, the fact that I could explore when I run … there were so many things that I enjoyed about running. It was a big passion of mine since I was young so it didn’t feel like being in an army, being punished. If you want to be successful in anything you have to stay close to your passions because then work feels like play.’

don’t want to be the one who’s halting it. I would like to create a very strong structure so that it is sustainable.’ Her dream is that children who benefit from JAG will themselves invest back into the programme in the community.

gives the example of some boys on the JAG rugby programme who have received scholarships to attend the prestigious Bishops schools in Rondebosch, Cape Town, and with that platform ‘will probably play provincial or Springbok rugby’. ‘It’s in cases like that that you know you’ve made an impact on one person’s life.’ There have been similar successes with the running programme.

create Olympic champions. Our objective is to grow the platform of learning for children. We have done impact studies and the results have been amazing. The biggest

18 Management Today | August 2011 ‘Our objective is not to The programme has changed many lives. Meyer ‘There’s so much potential in South Africa and I

I would have the chance to run internationally,’ says Meyer, even when this seemed unlikely in the turbulent 1980s. She qualified for the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984 when barefoot wonder Zola Budd represented Britain but would have

‘There was always a strong faith or belief that As Meyer looks back on 13 years on the