ULFATA Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia has won the 2022 edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon men’s elite race. The East African runner reached the finish line of the 42 kilometre race ahead of hundreds of competitors on Saturday morning.
He won the race in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 54 seconds after running through the streets of Nigeria’s commercial city from the National Stadium on the mainland to Eko Atlantic City on the island.
While Geleta won the main race, there was also a sub-race of 10km which began at the posh Lekki Phase One and also terminated at the Eko Atlantic City.
For his effort, Geleta won a cash prize of $30,000, the same as women’s winner Dange Siranesh Yirga.
Yirga, also from Ethiopia, won the women’s elite category of the race in 2 hours, 33 minutes and 50 seconds.
David Barmasai of Kenya finished second in the men’s elite race in 2 hours, 13 minutes and 33 seconds, ahead of his compatriot Emmanuel Naibei, who clocked 2 hours, 14 minutes and 37 seconds.
Ethiopia’s Alemenseh Guta was second in the women’s elite category in 2 hours, 34 minutes and 36 seconds, with Kenya’s Naomi Maiyo in third place in 2 hours, 35 minutes and 37 seconds as Ethiopia and Kenya swept all the podium positions in the seventh edition of the prestigious international event.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and sports minister Sunday Dare were at the finish line in the Eko Atlantic City to present the prizes to the winners.
