LEC, Alliance pump in M316k for marathon

MASERU – THE Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) and Alliance Insurance have pumped M316 000 into the Lesotho High Altitude Summer Marathon which is slated for later this month in Mokhotlong.
The LEC will sponsor the 10 kilometre race to the tune of M256 000, which includes attire and prize monies, while Alliance will be sponsoring the 5km race with M60 000.
The companies join the race’s main sponsors, the Ministry of Sports, in backing the annual showpiece which was first held in 2003.

This year the sports ministry has stumped up M2.5 million to support the High Altitude Summer Marathon and registrations to enter will close a week before the race.
The annual summer marathon has once again been divided into different categories which are the main 42.2km race as well as the 21, 10 and 5km distances.

The Lesotho Amateur Athletics Association (LAAA) together with Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission also announced that payments by entrants will no longer be made via the bank but through M-Pesa and Eco-Cash.
So far the top runners in the country to register are last year’s winner Teboho Noosi and 2007 Soweto Marathon champion Teboho Sello.

The LAAA said it is normal for the best athletes to register late as they always wait to see who their competitors in the race will be.
The LSRC, for its part, said it is expecting runners from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Namibia to compete in Mokhotlong.
Alliance said it is sponsoring the High Altitude Summer Marathon’s grassroots 5km race in order to shape promising athletes to become future champions of the main 42.2km event while LEC general manager,

Lerato Tšosane, said it is important for the public know what LEC does.
This is not the first time the LEC has sponsored the race and it has been on board since 2017.
“This year we have taken further steps that the 10 km be named after us, so it will be called Lesotho Electricity Company 10km High Altitude Marathon, our flag will be flying high,” Tšosane said.

LAAA spokesperson Sejanamane Maphathe said a group of athletes from South Africa will be running in the race and they have set themselves a target of finishing the race within 4 hours, 30 minutes. Last year Noosi won the men’s race in a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes and 23 seconds.
Khotso Patsa from the sports ministry said it is good to see companies still sponsoring the High Altitude Summer Marathon despite the economic challenges the country is facing.
He said this shows accountability by the LSRC.

“In sports we lose sponsorships because we don’t take care of the support and I want to thank you for taking care of this sponsorship,” Patsa said.
“We thank LEC and we will be behind LSRC to ensure this goes well. This race will continue to grow and these countries will still come back.”

Tlalane Phahla