Athletes from Plateau State emerged champions in the male and female categories of the 6th Senator Douye Diri (SDD) national marathon held on Saturday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
James Gang, who came second last year, led the pack of 207 participants in this year’s race, breasting the tape in the elite male category in 30:58:75 secs, closely followed by Francis James, also from Plateau State, in 32:05:87 secs.
Ishmael Sadjo from Cross River State finished in third place in 32.14:31 secs.
In the elite female category, Plateau State runners dominated with Akusho Lydia-Thomas coming first in 38.30.37 secs ahead of compatriots Vivian Obadiah (38:52.78 secs) and Tanko Iyanj (38.54.84 secs) in second and third positions respectively.
In the teens male category, Andrew Richards of Bishop Dimieri Grammar School, Yenagoa, came first while Okenema Samuel of Community Secondary School, Okutukutu, came second and Chinedu Deindein, also of BDGS, was third.
The teens female category saw Igbeita Innocent of Divine International School, Yenagoa, Alex Sunshine and Yebiboh Favour respectively finish first, second and third respectively.
Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, who presented prizes to the winners, announced an increase in the prize money across all categories from the next edition.
He said winners of the elite category will get N2m from the 2027 edition and that the state will host an international marathon event in April this year.
The governor commended the organisers for the improvement in organisation and participation, and directed chairmen of the eight local governments in the state to organise similar marathon events in their areas.
Gov. Diri stated that there was an abundance of budding talents in the rural areas that needed to be exposed through sporting events and expressed the hope that his directive would be carried out in next year’s edition.
His words: “I have been approached by some top sports officials in our country that, because of the good roads in our state, they want to bring an international marathon to Bayelsa, and I approved it. So, in April this year, we would have such event in our state capital.
“Beyond that, I believe this is the right form of empowerment; an empowerment that brings out your skill and talent. This is empowerment that sends you to the world.
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“Today, I like to also challenge local government chairmen in Bayelsa to organise marathons in their areas in a small way. I like to see that dovetailing to the finals of the SDD Marathon.“
While congratulating the winners in all the categories, Gov. Diri noted that the SDD marathon was geared towards fostering unity and discovering talents across the country and not only for the state indigenes.
Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports, Daniel Igali, appreciated the organisers for doing a good job with the competition, which he noted was deliberately organised to improve talents among the state’s middle distance runners.
Igali also stated that the distance in the sixth edition improved by one kilometer and thanked Governor Diri for his support for the competition and sports development in the state generally.
Highpoint of the event was the presentation of dummy cheques to the winners and runners-up.
Both Gang and Akusho got N1million each as winners in the elite category, while the runners-up received ₦500,000 and ₦300,000 for third place.
Fifty school bags were also given to student participants courtesy of the Glory Diri Foundation.
