Hudung, Iliya, others shine at five/10 KM RUN marathon

The third edition of Five/10 KM RUN Walk yesterday saw Raymond Iliya, Gyang Hudung, James Gyang, Aminat Alabi and William Basit emerged winners in their various categories. The event was held at the Banana Island in Lagos.

In the male category, Raymond Iliya displaced his coach, Pam Iliya, to emerge winner in the10 km race, while Gyang Hudung came tops in the female class after beating Solomon Kangyang.

The five km boys’ race saw James Gyang emerging winner over Abiodun Adetiba and Maisamar Zamani who came second and third respectively, while the girls’ five km race saw Alabi triumphed over Shakirat Murawa who came second and Zanab Bello who finished in third position. Basit William beat Boluwatife Agunloye to claim the title in the children category title.

Prizes on the occasion include N250,000, N150,000 and N100,000 for the winner, runner up and second runner up in the10km race event for male and female; N120,000, N80,000 and N50,000 in the boys and girls categories and N50,000 each for the first, second and third positions in the children cadre.

Speaking on her victory in the 10 km female category, an elated 38 year-old Plateau-born Hudung, a mother of three, expressed delight in her success after winning the N250, 000 prize money.

“I am very happy to win the 10 km race in the female race. The race was a tough one and I am glad I won it for my children. My children were the ones who told me to enter for the race and the money I won, I will use it to take care of my family,” she said.

Chairman of Road Warrior Fitness Club and the organiser of the event, Mr. Femi Solebo, said the race was the third edition, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic hampered it, but said that the next edition would be better.

“Today, the five/10 KM RUN Walk is organised in collaboration with BIPORAL (Banana Island Property Owners & Residents). Essentially, the event is a fun family fitness and what we seek to do is to encourage families: mum, dad, grandpa, grandma and children to come out to walk, run and to take fitness seriously.

“From young to middle and old age, everybody is encouraged to come out. Of course, there are winners, but we encourage people to walk and run at their own pace. The most important thing is to get people used to the idea of coming out and keeping fit and making sure they are healthy.

“We are very much excited about the race, as the numbers of participants have grown from the initial 100 to about 600 that registered for this edition. Next year’s own is going to be fantastic with bigger vendor space and the prize money will get bigger. We have a lot of sponsors and many more that want to be part of it. It is a big deal for us and we are really excited about it,” he stated.