Ethiopia’s Halima Hussein, who returned a time of 2:38:36 to claim the women first prize of the 42.1 km at Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, has praised the organisers.
“I want to praise the organisers for a good job. I wish them the best,” Hussein told the News Agency of Nigeria after she had been decorated on Saturday in Lagos.
She added: “I am elated to win.
“I am happy to be in Nigeria for this competition and I am happy to be the winner at the end.
“I wish to be back for another opportunity to defend my victory in another edition.”
For coming first, Hussein went home with $50,000.
Alise Timbilil of Kenya came second with a time of 2:38:49, while Ethiopia’s Aberash Feyase returned 2:39:36 to come third overall.
Also, second place winner, Kenya’s Timbilil, went home with $40,000, while Ethiopia’s Feyase went home with $30,000.
NAN reports that no fewer than 20,000 athletes registered for the event but no less than 1,500 were women.
Also Nigeria’s representative, Mary Akor, emerged the best female in the Nigerian women category, while 19-year-old Olamide Sarah, came second, as Johana Dimutu came third overall.
Sarah told NAN that she was happy with her performance, saying she could have come first if not for her miscalculations during the race.
She said: “I had the confidence of doing very well in the race.
“I felt bad for not coming first because I know I would have defeated the winner if not for some miscalculations on my part.
“However, I look forward to the next edition to correct the mistakes.”
The Nigerian runners received N1 million, N750,000 and N500,000 for coming first, second and third respectively.
NAN
