The Nedbank Running Club welcomes the arrival of Joseph Seutloali to the Green Dream team. Seutloali joins his wife Neheng, who is already a member of the team.
Boasting a half marathon personal best of 62:02, Seutlolai struggled throughout 2018 plagued with a few injury setbacks and illness but comes into this years season reenergized and ready for a good year. In his first race in green this past Saturday, Seutloali finished 2nd in 64:44 in the TP Mchunu Legacy half marathon.
When it comes to goals for this year, coach Andrew Booyen’s is quick to say that it will be a year of pb’s, especially over the marathon where the aim is to run well in Cape Town in September. “Joseph will start off with the Two Oceans Half Marathon in April but Cape Town Marathon is definitely the big one of the year,” says Booyens.
On debut, Seutloali finished 3rd in the extremely tough Soweto Marathon in 2016 running 2:23:22, where leading into the final km, inexperience got the better of him and he lost out in the dying stages of the race. After that, running through 32km on a projected 2:09 finish in the 2017 Cape Town Marathon, the wheels came off and saw him finish in 2:22.
Now with a coach, Seutloali knows that this year, he can do a lot better. Already evident is the massive transformation wife Neheng has seen since going under the wing of Booyens. Running a Lesotho national record of 2:33:41 in Cape Town last year, the goal for 2019 is to go under 2:30.
We may very well see a husband and wife duo running a sub 2:10 and sub 2:30 in the same race later this year but for now, we wait to see if they can both pull off the win in the Two Oceans Half Marathon in April.