Athletes from Plateau State dominated the 2025 Adewole Adebayo Christmas Marathon, sweeping the first, second and third positions at the event held yesterday in Ondo City, Ondo State.
The annual road race attracted male and female runners from across Nigeria and other African countries, including Ghana, Benin Republic and Burundi.
At the end of the keenly contested race, Plateau State runners carted away the top cash prizes of N2 million, N1 million and N500,000 for first, second and third places respectively.
The winners were Giang James Boi, Francis James and Musa Bala Sati, all from Plateau State.
In addition, runners who finished between fourth and 10th positions received consolation prizes of N50,000 each.
The marathon was held alongside the Queen Lilian Adebayo Health Walk, during which the top 10 participants were rewarded with N100,000 each as part of efforts to promote healthy living and community participation.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, the Chairman of the Marathon Organising Committee, Omoyele Sowore, expressed disappointment that the race did not attract the level of international participation envisaged by the organisers.
He attributed this largely to late publicity.
“To get the international attention we desire, publicity must start much earlier. With proper publicity, more athletes would have come because the prize money is quite attractive,” he said.
Sowore explained that the organisers are working towards elevating the event to international standards, with plans to introduce a half marathon in subsequent editions.
He noted that the marathon has already been officially recognised and certified but identified areas needing improvement, particularly logistics.
“One area where we observed some deficiency was at the water points, as there was no water at some locations. These are issues we must correct going forward,” he said.
While commending the prize structure, he argued that winning prizes for long-distance races in Nigeria should be significantly higher to attract elite international runners.
“You rarely find a marathon in Nigeria that pays N2 million to the winner. But anyone running 15 kilometres should earn nothing less than N5 million. If we invited Kenyan athletes, they would not accept anything below $20,000 for the winner. To go international, the prize money must be right,” he added.
Earlier, the organiser of the marathon, Prince Adewole Adebayo, said the event was conceived to empower young people and help them maximise their potential.
He urged participants to remain committed to positive and productive activities that would enhance their lives and contribute to national development.
