Onitsha City Marathon Gets AIMS, IAAF Approval

The promoters of the first ever Onitsha City Marathon, known as the Onitsha Business School, says it has secured authorisation to organise the tournament in the commercial city of Anambra.
The Chairman, Media and Publicity of the race, Mr Philip Balepo, stated this in a statement made available to newsmen in Onitsha at the weekend.
Balepo said that the proprietor of the business school, Prof. Olusegun Sogbesan, received the certificates of approval by agents of the Association of International Marathon and Distance Races (AIMS) and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
According to him, a well known marathon organiser, Nigeria’s Yusuf Alli, presented the two certificates for the 10-kilometre and 21-kilometre races to Sogbesan in Lagos.
“The 21 kilometres cover the half marathon while the 10 kilometres represent a road race in the mode of Okpekpe Road Race, which has held in Okpekpe Town, Edo in the last seven years.
“The certificates gave authority to the Onitsha marathon organisers to simultaneously stage the two races in one.
“Those calibres of races are dominated by elite athletes coming from many parts of the world,” he further stated.