The Lesotho Amateur Athletics Association (LAAA) says high altitude marathon is a tuition race which does not only offer prize money but also serves as training ground for international participations as well as advancing athletes’ prestige. According to LAAA Public Relations Officer (PRO) Sejanamane Maphathe, unlike other international races the Lesotho High Altitude Summer Marathon (HASM) attracts top runners from other countries due to its terrain. He said other people are attracted to take part in a race for healthy lifestyles, some for fun and entertainment and not necessarily to win huge sums of money. Mr. Maphathe said there are other races which pay as little as M15000 but attract best runners from all over the world as they are being rated as category A by the International Association Of Athletic Association (IAAF) because the times that would be made set to win make the athletes qualify for the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games. He argued that the prize money for the HASM is the best among other events, adding that it is also being used as the qualification for the Comrades marathon which runs between Durban and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal Province. Mr. Maphathe said this in the wake of delegations consisting of officials from the Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sports and Recreation, LAAA and the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) having attended the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town to market the HASM. He said since there was an EXPO at the Two Oceans marathon they went there to market the race and learn about the organisation part of big events like the race. Mr. Maphathe said some of the things they learned was the organisation and flexibility which he said are key parts of the event saying they too play a major part to attract top runners. He pointed out that they also got input from those who wanted to take part in this year's HASM like the dates for hosting the event and whether it should be held on a Saturday or Sunday saying others prefer it to be on Sunday since Saturday is a working day. The deadline for registration of the 2019 HASM is two weeks prior to the date of the race in order to allow for other logistics to be in place to avoid running out of materials like the bibs in the 10 kilometre race. The HASM pays M120,000 first prize for both men and women in the standard marathon and is the only major race in the country which takes place in December. Lena