8,000 ‘late comers’ register for Access Bank Lagos City Marathon

Organisers of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon are battling to accommodate over 8,000 applicants who just submitted their forms to be part of the race, which holds on Saturday.

Application and submission of forms for the 42km event, 10km family race, as well as the special athletes category ended long ago, but the organisers revealed they received over 8,000 forms yesterday morning from people who wants to be part of the race.

General Manager of the Access Bank Lagos City marathon, Yusuf Alli said yesterday that registering late for such a big event was not a good practice, but added that the organisers would find a way to accommodate the ‘late comers’ following appeals from the sponsors.

“Some Nigerians will always want to do things at the late hour. I got to my office this morning only to discover over 8,000 new application forms for the event that will hold on Saturday. But our sponsors have appealed that we should find a way to accommodate them because they need the crowd,” he stated.

Ali, who spoke during a seminar for journalists accredited to cover this year’s race, also revealed that about 45 Nigerian wheelchair athletes who are based abroad would take part in the 10km race for special athletes on Saturday. “Last year, 30 special athletes took part in the marathon and our sponsors bought 21 wheelchairs for them. It was really fun because they added so much glamour to the event. This year, 45 of them are taking part, and some of them were paid appearance fees of $10,000,” Alli stated.

Also speaking at the seminar, Head, Communications and Media, Olukayode Thomas said about 1000 Nigerian and international media practitioners have been accredited for the 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon,.

The marathon will be flagged off at the main gate of the National Stadium by 6.30 am on Saturday.Meanwhile, Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has urged all visiting athletes to use the opportunity of the race to visit other parts of the state. The Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Dr. Kweku Tandoh, who spoke on behalf of the governor yesterday, said the state was doing everything possible to see that the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon attains a status of IAAF gold label within a short time.