7th December, 2014
A 16-year-old boy who hails from Ijero-Ekiti in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti, Sunday Ojoko on Sunday won the 2nd Ikogosi Warm Spring Marathon Race.
Ojoko beat other 86 athletes who participated in the 7.5km competition to emerge the overall winner.
He finished the race in 27.18 secs, while the first runner-up, Ojo Ayobami finished on 28.38 secs.
The third placed winner, Samuel Sunday, completed the race in 29.52 secs.
The young lad won a cash prize of N50, 000 with several other gifts from telecommunications outfits such as MTN and Airtel Nigeria.
The runner-up and third place winner received cash prizes of N30, 000 and N20, 000 respectively with other gifts.
Ojoko, who also won the maiden edition of the competition last year, went home with the same cash prize of N50, 000 with several other gifts from the Ekiti government and individuals.
The General Manager of Ekiti State Sports Council, Mr Kayode Adewunmi, thanked the youth who participated in the competition.
He said the objective of the competition was to encourage and motivate youths to participate in grassroots sports.
Adewunmi said that the annual event was organised to discover talents who could represent the state in long distance races at National competitions.
Presenting a gift to the winner, the General Manager of the Ikogosi Resort Centre, Mr Tolu Ajeyomi, promised his continuous support to the sports council.
He said he was delighted with the successful completion of the competition and urged the participants not to relent in participating in grassroots sports.
NAN reports that the 86 athletes were given free Airtel Network SIM cards by the management of the telecommunications company for participating in the competition.