Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 112, November 2018 | Page 20

ADVERTORIAL
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At the tender age of 34, Lerato Mamabolo,
daughter of running legend Titus Mamabolo, was
overweight to the point that her health was being
threatened, and she knew that if she didn’t change something, she faced a hard road
ahead. Joining the Modern Athlete 9to5 Challenge was just the first step on that road, but it made all the difference!
TIME WAS NOT MY FRIEND
Fast-forward 20 years and Lerato found herself weighing in at 86kg, unfit and
unhappy as her health became more and more of a concern, but with work and life
she felt trapped in a cycle she didn’t know how to get out of. “I am a beautician by
trade, and running my own academy meant that I was working 24 hours a day, so
when I was hungry it was a case of grabbing the first thing available, whether it was
healthy or not. There is such pressure in the industry to be beautiful and healthy,
and I was failing every day.”
Lerato had tried everything, including joining a gym and fad diets, but nothing
fitted into her busy lifestyle. “I wasn’t motivated, and I just made excuse after
excuse,” she says, adding that the Tim Noakes Banting Diet did help her to lose
some weight, but she knew exercise was the only way she was going to get back
on track. “Then at my grandmother’s funeral, my cousin Matshelane Mamabolo
asked me a poignant question that changed everything: ‘Who is going to take after
your father?’ I knew the answer had to be me, and so with his help I committed to
start running again, and after he made the introduction to the Modern Athlete 9to5
Challenge, I knew there was no turning back.”
MOTIVATION AND GIVING 100%
Her first session dawned and with the help of 9to5 Coach Richard Laskey, Lerato was
guided to a necessary but rude awakening. “I couldn’t do a push-up or sit-up, nor run
1km, and it was a big wake-up call of where I was,” says Lerato, but having guidance
motivated her to push past what she couldn’t do. “I realised that Rich was someone
who could help me, he could give me the tools I needed to do this. Before I started
9to5, I didn’t even know where to start, and now I was being given the tools to do it.”
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ISSUE 112 NOVEMBER 2018 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Three weeks into the programme and Lerato was breathing and sleeping better,
and she felt better when she was running. “I am not a morning person, but on the
days I exercised I felt much better than on the days I didn’t, my productivity at work
increased, and I was just better off in that I could get everything done with energy,”
she says, adding that the 9to5 schedule was something she could fit into her busy
day, which made all the difference.
HARD WORK PAYS OFF
Just four weeks into the Challenge and Lerato overcame a big hurdle, managing to
run a full 5km without stopping, in an impressive 36 minutes. “It felt so good, my body
felt great, I felt great,” she says. After that, Lerato felt ready to take on her biggest
challenge to date, the 5km Adrienne Hersch Challenge with Discovery Vitality. Race
day arrived and a nervous but determined Lerato set off. “After the gun fired, it was just
me and the road. I went out to enjoy myself and walked on the hills, but managed to
finish the race in 40 minutes,” she says proudly, but her dad was even more proud. “He
was so impressed with my time, even asking if I got a lift,” she laughs.
Since then Lerato has been motivated to go further, and she has set herself the
impressive goal of getting to the Comrades in 2020! “The 9to5 Challenge has
shaped my running, because as a beginner I didn’t know what I was doing, but
the programme gave me the tools I needed. As much as I wanted to start running,
without this programme I would never have got to where I am today.”
#9to5
CHALLENGE
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rowing up, Lerato had always been a fan of running. After all, it was in
her blood, as her father Titus is a multiple SA Record holder and running
legend in South Africa. She says she remembers watching her dad win
races, and thinking, “Wow, that’s my dad!” Her early childhood was spent running
and training with her dad, but in her teenage years, Lerato’s promising running
career went off track: “Training became uncool,” she explains, saying she wanted
to fit in and be one of the cool kids, so her running was put on the back-burner.