By Moorosi Tsiane
MASERU — The winner of this year’s 42.2-kilometre High Altitude Summer Marathon in the male and female category will walk away with a massive M100 000. There will also be the half-marathon (21.1km) race for both the male and female categories.
The race is sponsored by the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation and mining giants, Letšeng Diamond to the tune of M1 850 000.
Lesotho gold medal winner at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur commonwealth games and coordinator of the race, Thabiso Moqhali, told the Lesotho Times that it is all system up for the prestigious race.
He told this paper that over 1 000 athletes have registered for the race scheduled for Mokhotlong on Saturday December 7.
The winner in the main race in both male and female categories will walk away with M100 000 while the second and third runners-up will pocketing M60 000 and M30 000 respectively. “The preparations are going well so far and registration is open until Thursday (today),” Moqhali said.
“I cannot exactly say how many athletes will participate in the race but we are expecting at least 1 000.
Moqhali said the cancellation of the famous Soweto Marathon in the eleventh hour will work in their favour as it has helped attract more international athletes.
“We have 30 athletes from Zimbabwe, 50 from South Africa and 10 from both Ethiopia and Kenya,” said Moqhali. He told this paper that the marathon has gained popularity in the region because of the lucrative prize monies.
“A good race is a race with good prize monies and the fact that this year’s prizes have increased is a sign that the race is getting bigger and better,” he said.
He also emphasised that the race is aimed at boosting business and tourism in the Mokhotlong district.
