The fifth edition of Opobo Marathon scheduled to hold on January 5th, 2023 continues to gather momentum as athletes and people from all works of life have started arriving the ancient kingdom to partake in both the Leisure and Elite categories.
The Opobo Marathon has gained national and international recognition, hence the special interest of top athletes and officials. This year’s event will have the presence of representatives of many organizations within and outside Nigeria.
And for the first time, the organisers have announced a winning prize of one milion naiira (N1m) for winners in the male and female Elite categories as a reward for perservance, focus, ddetermination and hardwork.
Akintomide Abayomi and Rukayat Oladapo emerged champions of both male and female categories that saw athletes covering 17km early this year.
Oladele Sunday and Clinton Amara came second and third respectively in the male category that saw more than 100 runners, while Dorothy Jaja came second in the female event.
The Team Lead of the organisers, Iyowuna Cookey, who spoke on the sidelines of prepration for the marathon, says the aim is to connect Opobo to the rest of the world, in addition to showcasing the tourism potentials of the area and culture of the people.
According to him, with Opobo marathon, people are seeing beyond the popular Nwaotam carnival, just “as we are using the marathon to advocate for healthy living.”
