Lagos agog for 2nd Access Bank Lagos City Marathon *Nigerian marathoners step up preparations to bridge gap News

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Lagos agog for 2nd Access Bank Lagos City Marathon *Nigerian marathoners step up preparations to bridge gap

By Augustine Kalu on February 9, 2017

All is set for the 2nd edition of the Access Bank Lagos State Government sponsored international marathon race tagged “Access Bank Lagos City Marathon” which holds on Saturday, February 11, 2016.

Already, the City of Lagos is wearing a new look with Access Bank Logo and Flags adorning the major roads and streets of the Cosmopolitan City in preparation for the international athletic event which is in its second edition.

Investigations conducted by Daily Sports revealed that the organisers are not leaving anything to chance to ensure hitch free competition come Saturday. Daily Sports gathered that the event has attracted a lot of athletes due to the huge financial rewards even as it was also gathered that already, 100 international marathoners have submitted their applications to participate in the money spinning Access Bank Lagos City Marathon.

The first prize winner will smile home with a mouth watery sum of $50,000 about N15.2 million while the first runner up will equally go home with the sum of $40,000 which is about N12.16 million and the 2nd runners up will be compensated with the sum of $30,000 which is about N9.1 million with the exchange rate of N304 per a Dollar.

So, it is really money spinning, no wonder many international marathoners are filing in their applications in drove to be a part of the one day sporting event.

Immediately the World Press Conference last December by the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, all the key stakeholders moved into action to ensure that all the loopholes discovered during the first edition are ploughed so that this year’s edition will be bigger and better than the first edition as envisioned by Governor Ambode.

The event is targeted at attracting about 50,000 participants. More than 30,000 people took part in the maiden edition last year and it was fun filled.

Already the fever of the marathon event has been in the air in Mega City as thousands of young and old people are trooping to the Teslim Balogun Stadium, the headquarters of the sporting event to get accreditation for the event.

There are many forms for different categories of people who would want to take part in Saturday’s Marathon race.

There is accreditation for the marathoners, for volunteers, for security, for media etc. As a matter of fact, accreditation for the Media ended on Sunday and as a result, any media house that didn’t get accreditation on or before Sunday will not be accommodated in the IAAF sanctioned one day sporting event.

Meanwhile, some Nigerian Marathoners have intensified their preparations towards the forthcoming Access Bank Lags City Marathon with a view to bridging the gap between them and their foreign counterparts, particularly marathoners from East Africa like Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda.

According to the first Nigerian male to touch the finished line at the maiden edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Philibus Sharubutu, having participated in different marathon races across the globe, he is looking forward to bridging the gap between him and his foreign competitors. In his view, it is not good that Nigerians will sit by and look at foreigners come here and win big monies and go home while the country’s athletes will be left with the crumbs and that is the much reason he has been training hard to ensure that he bridged the gap.

He said: “I am preparing well for the forthcoming Lagos Marathon. In fact, I have recorded a lot of improvement because I shaved off about 4 seconds from my Personal Best (PB) of 2:32.41 at the Jos Marathon. I finished among the Top 40 at the Paris Marathon last April, so racing in both Paris and Doha have really helped me. My plan is to retain my title that’s why I’m working this hard for it.”

Sharabutu, who commenced full training in the first week of January, said he had to take some rest before embarking on the training regimen for the Lagos City Marathon: “I ran two marathons in November, and needed some time to recover. First was the Doha Marathon which I ran on the 11th, where I placed 10th overall. I then competed in the International Jos Marathon on the 27th which I won.”

“Apart from wanting to retain my title as the best Nigerian Marathoner, I wish to bridge the gap between our foreign competitors and us. It is painful to see them come here and win these big monies and go home while we sit by. My aim is to ensure that I bridge the gap and try to see whether we will be able to win part of these monies and retain them in our country,” Sharabutu declared.

It is recalled that Sharabutu placed 17th overall in the maiden edition while coming first among Nigerian marathoners.

On her, Oluwaseun Olamide, the Nigerian female champion said her goal this time was not just to retain her status as the country’s female number one runner but break into the overall top five athletes in the female category.

“I finished in 18th position overall last year, but this time I want to be at least in the top 10 or even in the top five,” the 19-year-old stated.

“I have been preparing since last year December and I am confident it is going to good again in 2017, I have not run in any races in recent times because I am fully focused on the Lagos marathon,” she said.

The Access Bank Lagos City Marathon is the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) sanctioned one day sports summit and is one of the highest paying marathon races in the world.

Source Daily Sports

Posted February 9, 2017