Edwin Kibet of Kenya coasted to the finish line in 2:14:19 to win the 42km the 10th edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon on Saturday and was presented with the winner’s prize of $50,000.
Another Kenyan, Kipygon Hehemiah finished in the second place with the time of 2:16:37, while the winner of 2024 race, Bernard Sang Cheruiyot, who is also a Kenyan came third with the rime of 2:16:49.
In the women’s category of the marathon, an Ethiopian Guta Meseret Hirpa emerged the winner. Hirpa got to the finish line in a time of 2:37:04, while another of her compatriot, Aleminesh Herpha, was second with 2:38:01:39, while Kenya’s Jerono Peris was third with the time of 2:38:01:39.
A Nigerian male runner, Nyango Gyang Boyi, finished among the Top 10, finishing overall eight as well as the winner in the Nigerian category in a time of 2:25:41:58.
Apart from winning N2 million as first Nigerian, Boyi also won $4,000 for finishing 8th overall.
Blessing Shambor Solomon emerged winner in the women’s category of Nigerian runners, while Elizabeth Nuhu Power and Patience Dalyop Mwanvwang finished second and third respectively. Blessing Solomon got N2 million for her effort.
Speaking at the ceremony to mark the closing of the marathon, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the 2025 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon and pledged that Lagos State would give the organisers more support to make the 2026 edition bigger and better.
In his remarks, the General Manager of the Lagos City Marathon, Olympian Yusuf Ali, stated that he remains hopeful that the outcome of Saturday’s race will be enough to clinch the Platinum Label.
“Our target was for any of the elite athlete to finish the race at 2hrs 10min, which is one of the major criteria to get the Platinum Label. I know that all other requirements for the label have been fulfilled by the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon and we are hoping to be the first in Africa to achieve the Platinum. We are expecting confirmation from World Athletics very soon,” local media reports on Monday quoted Ali as saying.
The reports added that a total of seven gold medal runners in male category, two in Platinum, five gold labels for females and one in Platinum category were among more than 30,000 runners that took part in the Marathon race.
GIK/APA