Everything seems to have been put in place for the Lagos City Marathon with 160, 000 runners ready for action in the 42 km and 10 km Access Bank sponsored race .
General manager of the Marathon, Yusuf Alli who revealed at a press conference and reception for elite athletes from 28 countries at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, on Thursday that the 6.30 am time was fixed to enable the athletes run in the best weather condition.
It is expected that 125.000 will participate in the 42 km race while about 45.000 are expected to run in the 10 km for families, according to Alli.
Alli said arrangements had been made to deploy 100 Rapid Transport Buses to convey participants early to the starting point at the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos.
The organisers have also assure that about 350,000 bottles of table water would be made available at 21 water and refreshment points for the refreshment.
Alli said: “We don’t consider the 6.30am starting time too early. This is Marathon and we want the runners to run at a time when the weather is cool so that they can perform better. We want to run faster time and hopefully set some records because we are hoping to attain IAAF Gold Label by the at the end of this edition.
“The Japan Marathon starts at 5 am. The Dubai Marathon also starts at 5 am. These times were fixed so that the runners can perform when the weather is still cool. Here, the weather begins to get hot at about 9 am. It is for the same reason we have fixed ours at 6.30 am which is not too early but to support participants to get to the starting point on time, we are deploying 100 BRT buses to pick them from different points of the city. Last year, we deployed 50 buses we we have doubled the number now because entries for the Marathon has surged. In fact, we are planning, in subsequent editions to move the start off back to about 6 am to have the run at even cooler weather.”
The roads where the race will take place have been communicated to Lagosians, according to the organisers.
According to the marathon company, Nilayo boss, Bukola Olopade, “transportation on the day of the marathon will be seamless.”
Olopade added: “They have communicated and have kept communicating to the public on the roads that will be closed on the day.
“Security for the marathon is firm. We may not give you details of the arrangements for security for the obvious reason that it’s not right to give out details of plans. Indeed, the Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, elected to lead Head the security committee personally. That should tell us how seriously we have taken security.”