No fewer than 35 Gold, 13 Silver and 12 Bronze labelled runners have already registered to be part of the fourth Access Bank Lagos City Marathon scheduled for February 2.
A statement by the Marathon media department said that Yusuf Alli, the General Manager for the race, expressed delight at the interest being shown by elite athletes to run at the event.
Alli said: “The Lagos Marathon is attracting growing interest across the world each year and a testament to that is reflected in the number of high-profile runners competing for honours annually at the event.
“This is fantastic, it is obvious that top runners across the world like the Lagos Marathon, as they have been signifying their interests from Kenya to even Australia.”
It also said that the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon had surpassed the requirements for a Bronze Label and has done enough to earn even a Gold Label from the International Association of Athletic Federations and the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races.
The former African record holder in the Long Jump event predicted that a new course record might be set at this year’s marathon due to the stronger field of athletes that would be featured.
It said: “This year’s marathon will definitely be better than the previous ones, the quality of elite athletes coming have improved a great deal, so we are confident of a good show.”
Among many other big names expected at the 2019 event is David Barmasai Tumo from Kenya, who won the 2011 Dubai Marathon.
His compatriots, Jacob Kibet Chulyo and Moses Kigen Kipkosgei are in the mix for action, as well as Samuel Gebremichael, who now competes for Australia.
The statement also said that the female field will also feature top global runners like Agnes Jeruto Kiptocich, who finished as runner-up in the 2017 Paris Marathon and Caroline Cheptanui Kilel, winner of the 2011 Boston Marathon.
Georgina Rono and Risper Jemeli Kimayo, both female Kenyan runners, are also expected to compete at the 2019 Lagos Marathon.
35 Gold, 13 Silver Label runners to feature at 2019 Access Bank Lagos City marathon
