No less than 500 international and local athletes will participate in the first ECOWAS-Abuja Marathon scheduled for December 14. Mr. Francis Njoaguani, Director of ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Center, also told reporters in Abuja that this event is open to athletes outside West Africa.
Njoaguani said the race for unity and integration is organized in partnership with the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and will allow athletes to win cash prizes ranging from $ 10,000 to $ 10,000. According to him, adequate safety measures have been taken to ensure a trouble-free run that covers about 22 km.
“As ECOWAS, we do not believe that Abuja has a security problem; we are convinced that the federal government is up to the task. The FCT Minister is part of the process and we believe that it will implement all the necessary mechanisms to ensure the safety of all athletes .
“The security situation in Nigeria is the same in any other part of the world.” Every day we hear about attacks, but that doesn’t stop life. Therefore, the security agents and the Nigerian authorities are quite capable of guaranteeing not only the safety of the athletes, but also all other people who will come and encourage the athletes to the finish line, “said Njoaguani.
For his part, Dilichukwu Onyedinma, Sports Director of FCTA, said that although the competition involves participants from outside ECOWAS member states, its sole purpose is to promote the unity of the members of the African sub-region.
“This event will involve international athletes. Athletes from ECOWAS countries and four athletes from East Africa. We also have a theme; ECOWAS is for integration and Abuja for unity. So we created the theme” Running for unity and integration “and it is important to make people realize that,” he said.
“The proof we have today is that international athletes have already registered because, at present, four athletes from Ethiopia and Kenya have expressed interest in participating in the process.” Some Cameroonian athletes also confirmed that they would participate in the competition. All this is proof that Abuja is a good place for the race. The sports spectators also register here.
Recalled that the World Athletics Federation had announced on Tuesday that it had ratified Geoffrey Kamworor’s half marathon world record with 58 minutes and 01 seconds. In a sensational race, Kamworor eliminated 22 seconds of the previous Copenhagen Half Marathon record on September 15.
I was about to break the barrier of the 58 minutes of the event. Kenyan, 26, won the first of three consecutive World Half Marathon titles on the streets of the Danish capital in 2014.
Covering the first five kilometers at 13:53, just beyond the world record, Kamworor accelerated the pace to reach 10 kilometers at 27:34, four seconds from the target.
He was alone in front of the 11 kilometers, but did not slow down. The Kenyan reached 15 kilometers at 41:05, the fastest time ever recorded for this distance and 11 seconds to stun in less than 58 minutes.
His pace slowed through the stages, but he still reached 20 kilometers at 55:00, another world record. He was a few meters from the finish line when the clock reached 58 minutes before stopping at 58:01.
“It’s very moving for me to set this record,” said Kamworor, who also won two consecutive cross country world championships in 2015 and 2017. And do it in Copenhagen, where I won my first world title, add something. “
World Athletics said in a statement announcing ratification that the previous 58:23 record was set by Zersenay Tadese in Lisbon in 2010. World Athletics is the new name of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).