After six days’ hard work on and off the course, the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon route has been certified by the world governing body of athletics IAAF and the global body that governs marathons and road races, AIMS. The certificate was sent to the General Manager Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Yussuf Alli, over the weekend. With the certification of its route by IAAF/AIMS, Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has now joined the league of global elite marathons like New York Marathon, London, Berlin, Tokyo and others.
This feat was achieved by the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon six months before its third edition and six month after its second edition as the first edition took place February 2016.
Course measurer, Norrie Williamson, an IAAF/AIMS Grade A measurer, was really impressed by the great work Alli, the General Manager has done.
“Yussuf is a great guy; he has done a lot to take the Access Bank Lagos Marathon to this level from ground up. The enormous work he has done made the exercise fun’’.Williamson, a course measurer since 1985, who measured the course for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 2000 Sydney Olympics, Athens 2004 Olympics and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games said the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon route is a very good course,
“The route is very good, it will be a delight to run on, I wish I were a runner again.”
Access Bank Lagos City Marathon Project Consultant Bukola Olopade said the certification of the route is the beginning of many great things to come,
“This is good for our race; I am highly delighted that our route has been certified by IAAF/AIMS. Sending a grade A course measurer like Williamson to Lagos shows how highly they rank our marathon. We thank the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, for believing in us and supporting this dream and ensuring that it has become a reality. I also thank our title sponsor Access Bank and our other sponsors for their financial support. I am optimistic that we shall soon be a labelled race by IAAF. Our aim and target is to be IAAF Gold Labelled within five years and remain the number one and the biggest one day event in Africa for many decades’’, said Olopade.