At an unconfirmed record time of 2:15:04, Kenyan athelete, Abraham Kiprotich, reportedly clinched the first position in the 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon 42km race.
The Lagos City Marathon now in its third year, an annual athletic event hosted by the Lagos State Government and organized by Access Bank which brings athletes and people from different countries around the continent to compete in a 26 miles event, kicked off today.
Top dignitaries who participated in the annual race, include the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalong; Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, and President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick.
Speaking ahead of the event, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Friday, noted that his administration had set a target of getting the marathon listed in the annual calendar of the International Association of Athletics Federation, which will eventually earn it a Gold Label award within the next two years.
The governor mentioned that the success the marathon has achieved so far has been encouraging and that following the successes recorded by previous editions of the annual marathon, his administration would continue to invest heavily in sports, entertainment and hospitality, as it had shown to have the capacity to contribute positively to the development of Lagos.
“For Lagos, this is an exciting moment for us. We believe strongly that we are the capital of sports in Nigeria and need to showcase all the infrastructure and facilities that we have. This is why we have supported the Access Lagos City Marathon in the last three years and it is getting bigger and we are happy to be the host of this marathon.
“The main goal is to have the Marathon in the main calendar for the gold award in the next two years. I believe strongly that with the support of all the sponsors, we’ll get to where we ought to be.”
