John Korir (KEN) after winning the 2004 Lagos Half Marathon (© Saletti)
The fifth edition of the MTN International Half Marathon in Lagos, will take place on Saturday 2 December. It will be contested by some of the chief runners from last weekend’s race at Ubodu Ranch in the country's Northern Cross River State, the richest mountain running event in the world.
Lagos, well known as one of the most crowded and traffic jammed cities in Africa will for a few hours leave space to 48,000 registered runners in the half marathon which is dedicated this year to the fight against Aids.
Race organizer Kola Oyeyemi, and Sunday Bada, the Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, who in his competitive career was the 1997 World Indoor 400m champion, have put together an elite entry which includes athletes from ten countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco, South Africa and Cameroon.
Last year’s men's winner Fabiano Joseph of Tanzania, the 2005 World Half Marathon champion, will not compete favouring instead to pace the following day’s marathon in Fukuoka, Japan. In his absence, the Kenyan John Cheruiyot Korir, the winner of this Lagos race in 2004, who also took second place in 2005 is the favourite. Korir has a personal best of 61:02 from when finishing fourth in the 2003 World Half Marathon Championships.
The Colombian Rolando Ortiz, the World Mountain Trophy champion, and Kenyan Francis Kibiwott, who was victorious in the Obudu Ranch race and has a 60:29 PB this year for the half marathon will be his stiffest challengers. There is also an Ethiopian threat from Girma Dada, who has a 2:12 marathon clocking to his credit.
In the women’s race, last year’s winner Millicent Doadi of Ghana will not return to defend her title. There will be a hard fight for honours among a group of talented but largely second string Ethiopian and Kenyan runners, and the Italian Marcella Mancini, who has personal best for half marathon of 73:15, and full marathon of 2:33:17.
Louisette Thobi for the IAAF
