A veteran long distance runner, Joy Ebiye, once again dusted no fewer than 10,000 female runners to emerge winner of the 9th Lagos Women Run on Saturday, for the third and second time win consecutively.

The 9th edition of the Lagos Women Run, which was widely attended by athletes across Nigeria and Africa, kicked-off at 7.00 a.m., at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS).

It finished at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, running the loop of Lagos Island and part of Victoria Island to end at the stadium.

Ebiye, an official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), now becoming a serial winner, returned the time of 39:35:21 to win the 10km race as against the time of 33:41:4 she posted in 2023.

Ebiye, a native of Okitipupa, Ondo state, was also the winner in 2021.

Lizine Nguetsa from Cameroon came second with a time of 40:02:54, while Charity Agofure emerged third place after she returned a time of 40:09:23.

In the Veteran Category, Janet Dung, won the gong with the time of 47:45, while Katrine Darare from Latvia emerged second with the time of 52:56 and Otonye Iworima won the third place run with the time of 64:50.

The director-general (D-G) of Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Lekan Fatodu, commended the runners for their endurance participating in the 10km race.

“Everybody knows that we have the Lagos City Marathon, which is a mix of races. But, this one is dedicated to strong, inspirational and important women in Lagos state coming together to run.

“A run intended to foster community bondness, create fun and growth for those who are ready to impact the society in a positive way; that is why we are fully behind the race.

“We have people from different areas of development in the society coming together to run under an atmosphere of peace and unity,” he said.

Mr Fatodu added: “There’s so much in our drive in terms of promoting fitness, everything related to sports. We are also moving into the terrain of sports entertainment as well.

“While people are running, they are also having fun and are excited,” he said.

The winners of the 10km race, Ebiye, got the cash prize of N1.5 million and other prizes while second place, Nguetsa, got N1 million while third place Agofure got N500,000.

The winners of the Veteran Category, 46-year-old Dung from Plateau got N300,000 cash prize, while Latvian Darare got a cash prize of N200,000 and Iworima in third place got N100,000. 

(NAN)