The High-Altitude Athletics Club of Jos, Plateau state has expressed hope that one of its runners will win the highly coveted grand prize of $50,000 for the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon billed to hold in Lagos tomorrow (Saturday).
High-Altitude coach, Steve Nuhu, who disclosed this in a statement made available in Lagos on Friday, said he’s optimistic that one of his runners will break the Nigerian national record of 2:15 and possibly challenge for top honours at the event.
He said: “[The] Access Bank Lagos City Marathon is our premium event and there is no better place to set a new national record than our best races as the attention of the world media will be on us.”
With elite runners like Emmanuel Gyan and Deborah Pam under his tutelage, Nuhu did not reveal which of the athletes is primed to break the national record.
“I won’t talk about that but all I can tell you is that we are coming to Lagos with about 30 runners. I can assure you that one of these runners will set a new national record.
“Everywhere I go, I sing the praises of the organiser and sponsors of the Access Bank Lagos City Nigeria. We have been able to prove to the world that we can organize a world-class event like the New York or Paris Marathon in Lagos,” he added.
Also commenting on the event, MultiChoice Nigeria CEO, John Ugbe, said: “We’re delighted to bring the Lagos City Marathon to the homes of all our subscribers. So, for those who would not be coming out to join the race, they can always watch it on our DStv and GOtv platforms because it’s going to be transmitted live. We are ready to give viewers a delightful experience”.
Daily Trust reports that the Lagos City Marathon is a silver label IAAF event and a leading event on the African athletics calendar.
It would be recalled that the first edition was held in 2016 with the course record standing at 2:15:04 for Men – set by France’s Abraham Kiprotich in 2018 – and 2:37:52 for Women – set by Kenya’s Rodah Jepkorir in 2017.
Also, Ethiopians Sintayehu Legese (Men) and Dinke Mereset (Women) are the defending champions from 2019.
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