As athletes prepare for the
2nd Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Stephen Nuhu, a Plateau long distance coach, says his target is to have his runners finish among the top 10 in the international category.
The second edition of the 42km race is scheduled for February 11, 2017.
Nuhu told newsmen in Lagos that finishing among the top 10 meant that they could compete favourably among their peers, especially the East Africans.
Nuhu, who coaches some of Nigeria’s best distance runners like Emmanuel Gyang and Deborah Pam, said that with luck on his athletes’ side, they would do better than at the maiden edition.
He said that his athletes had commenced training and were committed.
“We already know that it is an annual event, so, we have started training. We hope to be among the first 10 in the international category.
“We didn’t achieve this feat in the maiden edition because Gyang could not finish the race and Pam didn’t feature due to injury. We hope to do better in 2017.
“We have started series of training and I pray that luck will smile on them,’’ he said.
Asked about what makes his athletes successful, Nuhu said the high altitude and training contributed were responsible.
“I hear that a lot of people have been asking what makes my athletes successful; the simple truth is the high altitude and training we have in Plateau.
“We make use of what we have, which is to our advantage,’’ he said.
He also appealed to philanthropists to come to the aid of long distance runners to achieve good performance internationally.
“We need support because we train once in a day, we do not have funds to train twice or thrice like the Kenyans and Ethiopians. They need good food and vitamins,’’ he said.