— Kenya, Cameroun, Others show interest
By Lekan Olaseinde
Abuja
Though still in its infancy stage, organizers of the newly instituted Aba Marathon race are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to get endorsement from International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) after receiving approval from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria(AFN) to organize the event annually .
Aba Marathon project manager, Seye Adebayo told Blueprint Sport in Abuja that already we have the backing of AFN to organize the marathon, we are also in contact with IAAF to get their nod for the meet though we are taking it step by step.
He disclosed that already marathoners from Kenya ,Cameroun, Ghana and Ethiopia are already showing interest to participate in this year edition which is slated for the last Sunday before Christmas in Aba
“We have received enquiries from Kenya ,Cameroun, Ghana and Ethiopia though we are still trying to streamline things .We don’t want to rush them .We are into the second edition of the race .By the grace of God the marathon has come to stay .We may not really allow them to participate in this year edition ”Adebayo insisted that the idea behind the last Sunday before Christmas has to do with Aba weather. “As we all know ,Aba is a cosmopolitan and commercial city and high in humidity .And in order not to paralyse the city ,we pick Sunday .It is always a day that half of the city inhabitants usually come out for jogging exercise .It also offer ample opportunity for Abians in Diaspora who are in town for the yuletide to participate in the exercise”.
He appealed to blue chip companies to come out and identify with the Aba Marathon race as the government alone cannot fund sports alone in the country.