Pascalinah Kabi
MASERU — Three top athletes left Lesotho for Durban, South Africa, on Thursday to take part in the Comrades Marathon this morning.
Teboho Sello, Mpesela Ntlotšoeu and Lebohang Mahloane are hoping to snatch the title from Zimbabwean Stephen Muzhingi who has dominated the race over the past three years.
The three are also expecting to make history by winning the Comrades Marathon.
Despite dominating South African marathons, Lesotho has never won the 89km Comrades Marathon since it was incepted in 1921.
The winner of the race will pocket a whopping M300 000 in both male and female categories.
The first and second runners-up in both categories will each respectively go home M145 000 and M110 000 richer.
Muzhingi however defiantly told the Sunday Express that the stars were hoping for a mission impossible.
“No one will give me a tough time on Sunday because my principle as an athlete is never to chase any athlete no matter how good they might be,” Muzhingi said.
“If they are hoping to give me a tough time, then it will be tough luck for them since I will be busy chasing time because that is the only way I can successfully defend my title for the fourth time in a row.”
Muzhingi first won the Comrades Marathon in 2009 and has since made it his own race.
The 32-year-old Durban-based Formula 1 team member said he is hoping to successfully defend his title today.
“If I win the race on Sunday, I must come to Lesotho just to honour these guys (Lesotho athletes based in Durban) because they have been helping me with training,” he vowed.
Muzhingi said the secrecy in his successful defence of the title was in not letting success go to his head.
He said he would be happy to become the second athlete to win more Comrades Marathon titles after South Africa’s Bruce Fordyce who won eight titles in a row.
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