June 24, (THEWILL)- There are no less than 40 elite runners from across the globe ready to feature at the maiden Ijebu Heritage Half-Marathon, according to a Thursday declaration by Bukola Olopade, organiser of the marathon in his position as the Chief Executive of Nilayo Sports Management Limited.
Olopade stated this in Lagos while commenting on the state of readiness for the event.
The Chief Executive, who is a former Sports Commissioner in Ogun State also noted the global nature of the half-marathon with the inclusion athletes selected from the world athletics pool to participate.
THEWILL recalls that the Ijebu Heritage Half-Marathon is scheduled for Saturday, July 17. It is a 21 kilometre half-marathon, on the one hand, as well as 10km and 5km races featured concurrently, on the other. It has a projected route that starts from the Tunde Debasco Road, through Ejirin to a finish line at Otunba Dipo Dina International Stadium.
Olopade made the participation of elite athletes a strong point of his remarks, saying: “We have selected a strong field of elite runners from the world athletics pool and we are anticipating a very competitive performance during the Ijebu Heritage Half-Marathon.
“Being the first edition of the half-marathon, we expect it to be a memorable one because, as project consultants, Nilayo are bringing all the expertise and excellence we are known for.”
According to Olopade, Kenya’s Bernard Sang who breasted the tape at the 2020 Istanbul Marathon was leading the strong cast of international athletes at the event. The Kenyan’s personal best for Half-Marathons stands at 1 hour 57 seconds.
If Olopade’s list of athletes pan out accordingly, then Sang will have his hands full trying to take the Ijebu race because he will compete against a tough lineup. Also coming, Olopade said, are: “Kenya’s Hosea Chirchir Kiplimo, Rhonzas Lokitam Kilimo, Eliud Mewangi, Sammy Nyokaye, John Muriuri Mburi, William Amponsah, Titus Kipruto Kibiego, and Paul Koech are on the men’s list.
“Uganda’s Ezekiel Chepkoromk, with a personal best of 01:01:46, and Azerbaijan’s Desta Fitsun Weldu are also listed.”
The Kenyans were also included in the women’s lineup. Olopade confirmed this with a list that featured Shila Jepkosgei, who is a World Athletics gold-label runner with a Personal Best of 01:10:58. The rest are “Ghana’s Juliana Lariba Sakat, Kenya’s Gladys Jepkemoi Chemweno, Caern Jebet Maiyo, Ruth Karanja, Susy Chebet Chemaimak, Hannah Wanjiru Gatheru.
“Uganda’s Racheal Zena Chebet with a Personal Best of 01:10:13 and Bahrain’s Damaris Muthee Mutua with a personal best of 01:10:13 will also be running in Ijebu.”
The organiser of the Half-Marathon is the prestigious Heritage Group with technical and logistics support of the government of Ogun State.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
