April 27, (THEWILL) – The Okpekpe International Road Race has been chosen by the World Athletics (WA), as one of the qualifying events for the 19th World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, which will be held in August.
The race is set to be the first gold-label 10km road race held in Nigeria, and organisers are committed to ensuring that the event is worthy of this new status. The Director of Media and Activation for the race, Dare Esan, said that the quality of elite athletes that will participate in the race will be of the highest standard and have “gold written all over them.”
Esan believes that the new status of the race will positively impact the quality of performances, with elite athletes expected to run sub-29 minutes for men and sub-32 minutes for women. “We intend to keep up with our pacesetting role by organising another world-class race that others can emulate, as we strive to positively create a road-running culture in Nigeria”, said Esan.
Ethiopia’s Teshome Mekonen currently holds the men’s course record at 28:35, while Wude Ayalew, set the women’s course record of 32:41 in 2014. Esan also stated that the race’s new status will encourage other road races in Nigeria to gain international recognition and have their courses measured by World Athletics accredited course measurers.
The Okpekpe International Road Race is expected to be the biggest edition so far, and its new status as a qualifying event for the World Athletics Championships will provide added motivation for athletes to compete for both prize money and a chance to qualify for the championships.
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.
