Kenyan, Kibet wins 8th Access Bank Lagos City Marathon

Edwin Kibet Koech of Kenya has won the 8th edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon event held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Kibet beat about 300 other marathoners on Saturday morning to win the 42km race.

The 39-year-old finished at a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes and six seconds to best Dekeba Shefa of Ethiopia and Kenya’s Bernard Sang who finished second and third respectively.

Kibet will claim the grand prize of $50,000 while the second and third-place winners will go home with $40,000 and $30,000 respectively.

Alemenseh Guta of Ethiopia was the first woman to cross the finish line, followed in second place by Kebene Urisa and Kenya’s Naomi Maiyo in third place.

The winners of both the men and women’s races qualified for the 2024 Olympics marathon event in Paris.

Felicia Adetutu finished 10th in the women’s race and became the first Nigerian woman to cross the finish line.

She earned $2000 and N3 million respectively for both finishes.

The 42km race began at the National Stadium in Surulere Lagos and ended at the Eko Atlantic City in Victoria Island.

The annual event was recently upgraded by the world athletics body to a gold label; less than eight years after its maiden edition.

Geleta Ulfata of Ethiopia won the 2022 event while Emmaneul Naibei and David Barmasai won the 5th and 6th editions of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon respectively.