TheCable

The inaugural edition of the Abuja International Marathon will now hold on April 29, 2023.

In a statement, Olukayode Thomas, the race director, said the new date was arrived at after extensive consultations with all the stakeholders in the industry — including the runners, sponsors, officials of FCTA, elite runners at home and abroad, and others.

Thomas said the decision to postpone the race from the original date was painful.

He also described the race as “the only full marathon authorized by the FCTA and with a route measured and calibrated by AIMS and approved by World Athletics.”

“The management and staff of Unicentral Resources Generation Limited will like to use this opportunity to appreciate the general public and all the security agencies in particular for the decision to postpone the race because lives of everyone matters,” the statement reads.

Olukayode Thomas, Abuja International Marathon Race director, explaining the route of the race to top officials of the FCTA

“Secondly, though we have put everything in place that will ensure we organize the first full international marathon and make it a memorable one, we prioritized the safety of human lives, so we had to postpone the race to April 29, 2023.’’

The race director also appreciated the runners and other stakeholders “who called to empathize and expressed their confidence in the staff and management of Unicentral to organize a world-class race and also express their commitment to participate in the race whenever a new date is announced.”

Thomas added that “there will be three races on the day. We have the full marathon that is 42.195 km, the 10 km fun race, and the 5km race for students.

“Also, there are many lead-up activities to the race; they include the unveiling of the winner of the High School that participated in the production of the theme song for the Abuja International Marathon.

“The race will also be preceded by a week-long Marathon Expo with the theme- Celebrating the Best of FCT-, Other activities include but are not limited to the unveiling of the Marathon Logo, the unveiling of race ambassadors, and others.

“Unicentral Resources Generation Limited is the only organization licensed to organize a full international marathon in FCT by FCTA in accordance with World Athletics norms and best global practices.”