The organisers have said over 500 runners are expected to compete in the 24 km race of the 2025 Calabar Marathon, which will be held on Saturday,19 April 2025.

The Managing Director of the Cross River State Tourism Bureau, Prince Ekpenyong Ojoi, who disclosed this while briefing the press in Calabar Wednesday, said the 24km race which will commence at the Millennium Park, Calabar by 6:00 am will go through the 12km Carnival Calabar route two times and terminate at the Marina Resort.

Ojoi said the winner in both the male and female categories will cart home the star prize of one million naira each, with the first and second runners up winning N500,000 and N300,000 respectively for their effort.

The managing director, who said the race, which started in 2022, enters its third year and has continued to attract some of the best runners from around the country, promised that this year’s edition will be the biggest and the best.

He said adequate medical and security measures have been put in place to ensure that all runners in the race are medically fit and secure during the event.

Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on General Duties, Ekpenyong Akiba said, “As a state, we are using this as an opportunity to rededicate our commitment to sporting excellence and to promoting and supporting initiatives that will not just foster unity but will also give our people the opportunity to be productive.”

The Special Adviser who announced a planned six-hour road closure and traffic diversion for the motoring public along the marathon route for the race between 6am and 12 noon advised motorists to use alternative routes to minimize traffic disruption during the event.

A 17-year-old Plateau State-born athlete, Gwom James Giang, who clocked 39.8 minutes, carted home the star prize of N500,000 in the 2024 edition of Calabar marathon with Shaba Dare Eniola, 36, from Ondo State, and 22-year-old Yusuf Bapiye from Plateau State, who clocked 39.12 minutes and 39.19 minutes, emerging second and third in that order to pocket N300,000 and N200,000 each.

In the women’s category, Delta State’s Agofore Charity, who returned in 44.38 minutes, won the first prize of N500,000, while Elizabeth Nuhu and Cross River-born Godsmind Eteng, 12, emerged first and second runners up, bagging N300,000 and N200,000 respectively.