14-year-old Dolapo Morakinyo was the sensation of the maiden edition of Ikogosi 10km Marathon on Saturday as she made history as the youngest participant in the race.
The Okemesi indigene caught the eye of all after she went through the rigour of the race and got to the finish line ahead of some athletes.
Cross River State-born Sadjo Ismael made history at the event by becoming the winner of the race after beating over 2,000 athletes to the finish line in an impressive time of 30 mins 40 seconds to win the N1 million prize.
Sadjo was trailed by Plateau-born Adamu Shehu Mu’azu who came second at 31 mins 22 seconds, while Oyebode Dada Samuel from Osun State came third at 31 mins 48 seconds.
The first runner up got a prize money of N500,000 while the second runner up got N300,000.
In the Female Elite Category, Rose Akuso from Plateau State came first at 36 mins 51 seconds and was followed closely by David Abiye from Ondo State at 36 mins 59 seconds, while another runner from Plateau State, Oman Sale, came third at 37 mins 31 seconds.
They also received N1 Million, N500,000 and N300,000 respectively as their prizes.
In the Male Indigene Category, Shedowo Adewale came first at 34 mins 51 seconds, Lawal Azeez came second at 35 mins 16 seconds, while Arowolo Tunde came third with 36m, 17secs.
In the female Indigene category, Adewole Hannah Jumoke from Ikere Ekiti came first by reaching the finish line in 38 mins 49 seconds. She got N1million.
She was followed by Sehinde Favour (43mins 32 seconds) and Folorunso Fayokemi (44m, 38s), who took the second and third positions respectively.
The State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the event, presented the winners with their prizes and congratulated all the participants for daring to take part in the epoch making event.
Fayemi said his administration would not only invest in the education and human capital development of the youth, but will continue to partner with relevant private sector players in providing them platforms to showcase their God-given talents.
The race which flagged off by the State Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, in Aramoko- Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti West Local Government at exactly 9:25am.
No fewer than 10 ambulances manned by health professionals were deployed on the Aramoko-Erinjiyan-Ikogosi route, while the police, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and the state’s Peace Corps were available for security and crowd control along the route.
The Ikogosi Marathon race was organised by the Ikogosi Marathon Initiative in partnership with the Ekiti State Government. Over 5,000 registered for the race online, while close to 2,500 collected racing materials which qualified them for the race.