13 countries battle for honours in Abuja half marathon race

*Winner grabs $8,000 USD

By Jude Opara, Abuja

Over five hundred athletes from 13 countries including Nigeria are set to take part in the second edition of the Abuja City Half Marathon race which holds on Saturday.

At a world press conference ahead of the marathon, Head of Technical sub committee of the race, Yusuf Ali said now fewer than 500 athletes, including 30 elite athletes in the world are already in Abuja for the race.

Ali explained that there are athletes that are rated by the World Athletics (WA) and the first 300 amongst them are known as the elite athletes.

Giving more insight into the event, Ali, a former Olympian said every effort would be put in place to ensure that the race meets all world standards.

“There will be no room for any shortcut, there will be three spy cameras on the route. The event starts by 6:30, and all elite athletes are already in town. There will be one timing for everybody. Every runner must be chipped and we are going to use three different timers, therefore there is no need for people to be rushing to be in the front because the timers will accurately capture everybody from where they started.

“We will also be posting pictures of finishers in record times, as well as use manual backup. And to show how serious we are, we are going to post results of all finishers latest one hour after the race.

“For the benefit of all athletes and to give everyone the level platform, we are mixing both Nigerian elite and foreign elite athletes. We have athletes participating from Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda. Already about 13 countries are running from other countries like Saudi Arabia, India, China, Algeria and many others”.

Ali further explained that front runners are expected to return latest 7:32 am adding that there will be water for the runners after kilometer 17:5, as well as refreshment points along the route.

“As for the prize money, the overall winner s both for men and women will pocket $8,000, while the other runners ups down the line will win six, five four, three, two and one thousand dollars respectively.

“Nigerian runners will win N2m, 1.5m, N1m, 500k, N400k, N300k. Similarly, there are special incentives for students participating in the race”.

Earlier in her welcome remarks, Chief (Mrs) Yetunde Olopade, the Managing Director of Nilayo Sports who are the organizers said Abuja has become the leading destination for marathon races.

She promised that Nilayo Sports will continue to push to ensure that the Abuja City Half Marathon meets with all international best standards.

“The Abuja City Half Marathon is an opportunity for athletes to showcase their talents. This dition promises improvement in organization, it’s more than a race but a significance of national pride”.

The Managing Director of the sponsors, Premier Trust Bank, who was represented by Shina Tonuola, said the bank will continue to keep its promise of sponsoring the marathon for a very long time.

Tonuola said the motive of the bank in sponsoring sports is a path way to empowering the youths, adding that within just six months after operation, the bank started with the Youth Sports Festival and then added the National Sports Festival and support for football, in line with the excellence policy of the bank.

In his remarks, the FCT Director of Sports, Lukas Istifanus who represented of the FCT Minister, Barr Nyesom Wike said the FCT is a friendly city and that’s why it gave Nilayo Sports the approval to operate in the city.

He promised that many actors in the administration of the FCT including the workers will turn out enmass to support the race.

The briefing was also attended by the President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief Tonobot Okowa and the representative of the World Athletics (WA), Nadeen Khan.