Athletes Battle For $112,000 In Today’s Okpeke Road Race

Okpekpe Road Race May 25, 2019 Blog, Event, News

No fewer than 1600 local and foreign runners will battle for the various cash prizes at stake, as the 7th annual Okpekpe 10km road race holds this morning in Okpekpe, Etsako East local government of Edo State.

Total sums of N45m ($112,000) are up grab as prize money to the top eight finishers in the men and women’s elite race, with the winner in each gender category going home with $20,000 while $13,000 and $9,000 respectively will go to the second and third place finishers.

The prizes for fourth to eighth positions in each gender category are $6,500, $3,000, $2,000, $1,500, and $1,000 respectively. The IAAF Silver Label Race has been won in the last six editions by athletes from East Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia to be precise, but some of the long distance runners in Nigeria have set their targets on achieving something from this year’s edition.

The organizers are targeting a Gold Label after this year’s race and some top athletes from Nigeria believe this will even make them to perform better running side-by-side with some of the top distance runners across the world. Speaking ahead of the race, Nigeria’s top runner, Emmanuel Gyan, said they were ready for the race. “I have been available for the race in the last six editions, this time around, I am ready to do better than I have been doing in the past,” he said.