Updated – Kaduna marathon: Kenyans sweep medals, pocket dollars as Nigerians win 10km race

Kenyan marathoners swept all the medals at stake as John Muirurri Mburu and Caren Mayo won the male and female golds of the maiden 21km Kaduna Half Marathon race and $10,000 prize money each. 

Phillip Taurus won the male silver medal and $7,000 prize, while Josephat Kiptanui came third to cart home the $5,000 prize money. Cheptoeck Careen was the runner up in the female category winning $7,000, while Lilian Chemweno went home with $5,000 as the bronze medalist.  

The 29-year-old John, who said he has been running for 10 years, described the race as a good one, noting that though he trained hard for the race, Kaduna whether was equally favourable. “I have been training well for the marathon and I’m happy that I won. The Kaduna whether was good and it makes my race better.

“This is my second tine in Nigeria, i like running in Nigeria. I hope to come back to Kaduna next year to defend my title. Nigerian runners are improving well, very soon they will be running good times and wining too,” Mburu said. 

Speaking moments after winning her race, 23-year-old Caren said she is happy to extend her winning runs to Kaduna after winning the 2019 half marathon in Michigan (USA). “This is not my first victory, I won the 21km race in Michigan, USA last year. I’m happy to win the first edition of Kaduna half marathon. The whether was good, i hope to come back next year.”

Emmanuel Gyang was the first Nigerian to breast the tape winning a N3 million prize, followed by Jigak Monday Auta who won N2 million and Gyang Boyi Nyango who won N1.5 million. Vera Yohanna won the female category followed by Rose Akuso and Hudung Gyang. 

Emmanuel, who is a staff of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), said it took him three months of hard preparation to win the Nigerian race.

“I have been preparing from the moment I was aware of the marathon race. Though this is not my first time of winning, I’m happy to win here. My plan is to go to camp and train hard in preparation for the Olympics,” he said.

Gyang David from Plateau state won the 10km race, while Kangyang Solomon won the female 10km race.

Mohammed Sani Musa of Kaduna state won the 5km race. 

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