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Brothers, John and Dutse set sights on winning the students race at Abuja International Marathon.
The distance between Knvlope, in Bwari Area Council of FCT, and The Pavilion, the ongoing Abuja International Marathon venue is over an hour, and the Expo starts at 9 am daily.
But like men on a mission, the duo Peter John and Sunday Emmanuel Dutse, accompanied by Danladi Mailamba, their coach, manager, and teacher arrived at the Expo ground before dawn.
John, 11 years old, and Dutse, 12 years both students of Knvlope Primary School in Bwari Area Council of FCT mission is not just to participate in the 5 km race of the Abuja International Marathon, the first international marathon in FCT but to win the prize money of N500,000.
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According to their coach Mailamba, a former sprinter and quarter-miler whose athletics career was aborted after secondary school, because there was no marriage between sports and education at National Teachers Training Institute, where he did his NCE (National Certificate in Education), which qualified him to be a teacher running the 5km is not a big deal for John and Dutse.
“Twice a week, we do more than 10 km as part of our six days of training weekly. We normally run twice weekly from Knvlope to Shere, a distance that is more than 10km, so running and winning the 5km is achievable on April 29,’’ said Mailamba.
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20:07 - 20.04.2023
Abuja International Marathon sets price for students in 5km open race
The winning price has been set in the 5km open race at Abuja International Marathon.
Mailamba believes that talents died in Nigeria because of a lack of development programs.
“We are talented in all sports, but there are no developmental programs. We need to start proper elite athlete development programs. We are grateful to FCT and Unicentral for the Abuja International Marathon, but we need more not just in Abuja but in all the nooks and crannies of FCT, we have what it takes to excel like East Africans, but we need to start early like age 6 or 7.”
On what his wards will do with the prize money if they eventually win, “They will invest the money in their education and sports career and also support their families,” Mailamba concluded.
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23:30 - 23.04.2023
Runners throng Abuja International Marathon Expo to collect kits
Marathon enthusiasts from within and outside the Federal Capital Territory daily throng The Pavilion, the venue of the ongoing Abuja International Marathon Expo to collect their running kits in readiness for the first international marathon in Abuja and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Abuja International Marathon is slated for April 29, 2023, in three categories the 5km Student Race, the 10 km Family Run and the 42.195 Full Marathon.
According to the Race Director, registration is free, and it is still ongoing at the Expo, till April 28.
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13:47 - 24.04.2023
'Nigerian distance runners ready to smash barriers at Okpekpe International 10km Road Race' - Nuhu
Stephen Nuhu sets huge expectations on Nigerian distance runners ahead of Okpekpe International 10km Road Race.
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