April 10, 2021

Emmanuel Naibei and Meseret Dinke on Saturday emerged winners at the 2021 Lagos City Marathon taking away a cash prize of $30,000 each in the male and female categories.

Naibei, who is from Kenya returned a time of 2:11:37 to claim the top prize of $30,000 while Meseret Dinke, Ethiopian, won the female category.

Daresa Geleta of Ethiopia took second place in the men category while Demiso Legese also from Ethiopia took third place.

In the second place, women category Celestine Chepchirchir (Kenya) won, taking a cash reward of $20,000 while Desta Muluneh (Ethiopia) took third place with a cash prize of $15,000.

Just like it is in the Men’s category, this is the fourth time an Ethiopian will be winning the female race.

Plateau-born, Istifanus Peter Mahan was the first Nigerian to cross the finish line.

As the first Nigerian, he will be going home with a whopping sum of ₦1,000,000, while the second and third Nigerian will bag ₦750,000 and ₦500,000 respectively.

Championed by Access Bank, the race started in the wee hours of Saturday in front of the National Stadium, Surulere, and ended at the Eko Atlantic City, Victoria Island, a 42-kilometer stretch.

Unlike previous years where over 100,000 participated in the marathon, only 300 athletes were allowed to participate in the 2021 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The race was flagged off by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare.