The Abuja International Marathon made a big statement in its maiden edition on Saturday, April 29, 2023, as the men and women elite category winners set new winning times for an inaugural international marathon in Nigeria.
Kenyan Emmanuel Naibet’s winning time of 2:13: 45 was faster than the previous record of 2: 16:21 set by compatriot Abraham Kiptum at the 2016 edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon.
Even the time returned by the second-placed Kenyan duo of Bernard Sang 2: 13: 49 and Ezekiel Koech 2:13:51 were faster than the time returned by Kiptum.
The women’s elite field winner at the Abuja International Marathon, Ruth Jabet from Bahrain won in a time of 2: 36: 08 this is also a record for a first marathon.
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It is faster than Ethiopian Halima Hussein Kayo’s 2:38:36 winning time at the 2016 Access Bank Lagos Bank City Marathon.
Meanwhile, Olukayode Thomas, the Race Director of Abuja International Marathon, on behalf of Unicentral Resources Generation Limited the licensee of the race has expressed profound gratitude to all the runners that participated in the first international in FCT, especially the fun runners and the students’ runners.
He further said the biggest thank goes to the biggest stakeholder in sports, the media, “Without the media, the Abuja International Marathon will probably remain an idea, I thank my colleagues for their immeasurable contributions.”
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