Kenyan, Bernard Sang, has won the 9th Lagos City Marathon crossing the finish line in 2hrs 16 mins 49 secs.
Sang who came in third in 2023 finished ahead of compatriots, Silas Cheprot with a time of 2 hrs 17 mins 33 secs, and Geofrey Birgen who came in third in 2 hrs 17 mins 42 secs.
Sang said he was not expecting to be a winner after finishing eighth and third in previous editions.
He said, “I feel very happy winning this Lagos marathon because they are paying on time and it is a very great race. This is my fourth time. I was number 8 last year and I am coming back next year”.
Birgen who placed ninth in 2023 said he was happy with his performance despite the weather conditions.
He said “I’m happy for the position today so because of the weather I thank God for the position. I have been running in the Lagos Marathon for four years and I have also been in the top ten. I was ninth last year and I am happy to be third this time.”
Women’s Race
Ethiopian Chala Kebene, claimed the women’s race in 2 hrs 41 mins 01 sec.
Kebene who returned a time of 2hrs 40 mins 45 secs to place second in 2023 finished ahead of the Kenyan duo of Margaret Agai and the marathon record holder, Sharon Cherop.
Agai, making her debut at the marathon, crossed the line in 2 hrs 41 mins 41 secs while Cherop finished 2 hrs 42 mins, 10 mins 6 secs later than her 2020 marathon record which still stands.
Cherop, who came back from maternity leave to participate in the race in 2022 and placed sixth overall, said her next target is the Boston Marathon which comes up in April.
She said “I think today it was much humid but I’m happy with the third position. I came back from maternity when my twins were not up to a year old, I was not ready in 2022 but this year I was ready. After this, it is probably Boston Marathon”
Meanwhile, the President of International Association of Ultra Runners, Nadeem Khan, who hailed the event as one of the best in the world, responded to concerns about the weather conditions.
Mr. Khan said the temperatures of race locations needed to be looked into in future for the athletes to be able to give their best.
“As we go to the future, we need to be looking at these temperatures so that we don’t punish the athletes, we don’t let the athletes run in a situation where they may have a problem or they may not be comfortable because if they are not comfortable obviously they will not produce their best. So I think we are getting the information right”.
The Lagos City Marathon is a Gold Label Race and organisers say they will apply to the World Athletics, WA while hoping they meet the criteria necessary for the upgrade. If the conditions are met, Nigeria could become the first African country to host a Platinum event.
Khan, who is also a WA Vice President, said they will look into the organisation of the race.
He said “I’m sure, with this kind of organisation, we are going to sit down, look at it, assess everything. There are so many other things we look at not just the time. There are so many other issues we need to look at and we’ll get the reports from the technical officials, then we can decide what to do”, Khan concluded.
Over 60 thousand runners participated in the race which saw the winners in the men’s and women’s categories go home with 30,000 USD each while the runners-up got 25, 000 USD and the third-placed went away with 20, 000 USD.
Comments are closed.