Organizers of the Abeokuta 10km Race, Nilayo Sports Management Limited (NSML) have confirmed that the 2021 edition of the event will hold on Saturday, November 13, 2021.
At a Press conference held in Abeokuta on Tuesday, Managing Director of NSML, Hon. Bukola Olopade noted that this edition tagged “Running For Naija” is strictly for indigenous runners.
Despite not having foreign athletes taking part, Hon. Olopade stated that winners will still be paid in dollars.
In his remarks, the former Commissioner for Youth and Sports in the Gateway state said “We have decided to maintain the monetary standard despite not having the foreign athletes. The support from our headline sponsors, Rite Foods has been tremendous and we realized that it is pertinent to celebrate the homegrown runners.”
“Rite Foods Limited decided to take the headline title for this event because they want to promote everything Nigerian, and by the tag and modalities, this event stands for what they do.”
The Nilayo Sports CEO also showered encomiums on the Prince Dapo Abiodun led Ogun state government for its giant strides and successes it has recorded.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Ogun state, Dr. Kehinde Oluwadare expressed the state government’s readiness to continue supporting the Abeokuta 10km Race on all front.
Dr. Oluwadare stated that the event is in tandem with the agenda of the government of the day under His Excellency, Prince Dr. Dapo Abiodun.
“On behalf of the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, I welcome everybody to this event, what we are doing today is in tandem with the the policy of his Excellency, youth engagement and empowerment is germaine in the plans, the government has also created an enabling environment to ensure that this type of event will thrive”
“The Abeokuta 10km race has come to stay, it will also assist in discovering budding talents and then give them a platform to become world beaters”.
The brand manager of Rite Foods Management Limited, Miss Bolu Adedugbe said as title sponsors, their commitment is bigger and better as they have audaciously and fearlessly turned out to be part of the historic 10km Race in a bigger way.
“This year is going to be extremely different, we have ensured that the narrative of promoting everything Nigerian remains firm, we are taking it to the International sphere to promote our local talents as much as possible.”
“On the 13th of November, it is going to be different, history will be made in a new way, it’s going to be the first time racing in Abeokuta with one hundred percent Nigerians, it is also going to be different because we have a proudly Nigerian company that’s fully behind the pioneers of this event.”
On his part, the General manager of the event, retired Nigerian athlete, Dr. Yusuf Alli said the technical department has put several innovations in place to ensure that a hitch free race is witnessed.
Dr. Yusuf Alli warned that the Abeokuta 10km Race organizers are maintaining their zero tolerance for cheating standard, hence the need for participants to abide strictly by the rules of the game.
Once the coast is clear for registration, Intending participants can register on the website abeokutamarathon.com, according to the project manager, Mr. Seyi Johnson, registration is Two Thousand Five Hundred Naira Only, (2,500).
He stressed that having reached out to stakeholders, it was pertinent to include the registration fee in order to have a decent number of interested participants, he said it’s inline with the global best practices guiding road races across the world
*Organizers Announce Prize Money For 2021 Abeokuta 10km Race*
Nilayo Sports Management Limited (NSML), organizers of the Bigi Abeokuta 10KM Race have confirmed that winners in the men and women category of the event will go home with Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000) each.
At a Press conference held in Abeokuta today, it was also revealed that the first runner up and the second runner up in both categories are entitled to $1500 and $1000 each in that order.
Managing Director of Nilayo Sports Management Limited, Hon. Bukola Olopade made it known that there is also a category for special runners.
“We left out the wheelchair race in our other races, but we are reintroducing that in Abeokuta because the Rite Foods brand insisted that we do something for the special people”.
For the November 13, 2021 event, the winner of the wheelchair race will go home with five hundred thousand naira, the first runner up will be presented with three hundred thousand naira, while the second runner up goes home with one hundred thousand naira only.
This edition of the Bigi Abeokuta 10KM Race will start at the Ake Palace and terminate at the M.K.O Abiola International Stadium, as against the first edition which had the Oloke Junction as the first port of call, the route has changed to ensure that all COVID-19 Safety measures are observed during the race.
