Morabaraba Sello, or just “Sello,” as we call him, is a 28 year old Masotho lightning bolt. I met Sello one day out on my typical training run in Maseru, Lesotho. I was putting down the normal slow and efficient pace that ultra-runners get accustomed to, and came across a local runner doing fartlek training by posting some of his buddies at specific light posts with stop watches.
While it wasn’t uncommon to see runners out on the road, Sello stopped me and excitedly started asking me questions about running. Not asking me for anything, but just wanting to know more about the sport.
I saw a guy who was ready to drink up any help that I could pass his way, and started off by assisting him with my old watch (one of those giant Garmin Forerunners that bent around your arm), and a few small kit items.
A few weeks later he sent me a picture on Whatsapp. A simple shot he took of the screen of the Garmin. It said
Dist: 10km
Time: 29 min.
I had to look at it a few times.
Once I was convinced that he hadn’t hopped on a taxi and left the watch recording, I knew he had something special in his legs.
With a bit of coaching, some extra nutrition and gear, Sello was on his way to running some races in SA.
In 2018 he did a few half marathons, and had bad luck with being disqualified for issues with the Lesotho athletes permits. He won a few small events here and there, but then told me he wanted to have a go at the marathon distance.
His first Marathon was the Wally Hayward Marathon in 2018, where he placed 7th in a time of 2:29. He also placed 2nd at the Clarens surrender hill marathon later in the year.
In 2019, he wanted to focus on Mandela Marathon, and the Soweto Marathon.
During the Lesotho winter, he moved to the area of Oxbow, which is one of the highest and coldest places in Lesotho. He did this with the intention of doing high altitude training. On a training plan I had developed for him, he camped and lived in the mountains for about 2 months, getting ready for Mandela Marathon.
Of course, as luck would have it, the week of the race he got flu and had to drop out around the 20km mark. But he set his sights on Soweto and kept the training intensity high.
Just before Soweto, a few of the Lesotho athletes were given a pair of shoes from a company (I wont name them). This was given as a kind of sponsorship deal, although it only included the one pair of shoes and the requirement that they run with them on. Unfortunately they were not very good shoes, and many of the athletes who used them dropped out. I was following Sello online, and was excited to see him post a halfway time in Soweto of 1:12. A few minutes back from the leader. From there he slowed down, affected by pain in his feet from the shoes. He took them off for the last few kms, and finished in 2:45, in 66th place. Respectable for sure, but he was disappointed.
Knowing his disappointment, I jumped at a substitution entry to the Lesotho Ultra. I was running anyway, and why not let him have a crack at a trail race, seeing as his road schedule was done for the year and he had the fitness to do just about anything.
