The prospects of the Abuja International Marathon are refreshing - Seven-Up Bottling Company 

By Olusola Adebayo 

The Marketing Director of Seven-Up Bottling Company, Segun Ogunleye has identified the prospects of the Abuja International Marathon as one of the key reasons the company is throwing its weight behind the event, www.234sportsng.com reports.

In an exclusive interview with our correspondents recently in Lagos, Ogunleye confesses that the decision to partner with the event and key into projects is so easy as the prospect of the Abuja International Marathon is refreshingly huge. 

He confirmed that the company is excited to refresh athletes and the people of Abuja as they run the Federal Capital City of Nigeria.
" We are super excited bringing the energy to the city of Abuja, the nation's seat of power,  to support the Marathon and continue to refresh the athletes, the people"  began Ogunleye.

" We have been supporting the youths using our various brands and this is another opportunity for us to move it a notch higher with the Abuja International Marathon" 

" Above all, it's a lot more than the monetary incentive from the financial point of view but the spirit we can inspire, to bring out the people of Abuja to enjoy the ambiance of the city and run like never before". Ogunleye said.

The prospects and expectations 

The Abuja International Marathon will place on April 23, 2023, with an elite race of 42.9km, a family fun race of 10km, and 5 km for secondary school students.

In a well-attended Press conference that took place in Lagos, the organizers of the Abuja International Marathon unveil Seven-Up Bottling Company as a partner and promised to deliver the first real marathon culture in Nigeria at the Federal Capital City.

The race director, Olukayo Thomas speaking on the prospects and what to expect at the event, the respected Journalist told the assemblage of creme De la creme of Nigeria Sports media who attended the event said the event will deliver a world-class race taking the marathon culture to another level.

He said there will a 10-day pre-Abuja International Marathon expo, where there will be exhibitions, and exposure to Abuja cultures the theme song for the event will be an event composed by Secondary School Students in Abuja through a competition. 

He emphasized that the AIM will go into the training and development of Nigeria marathoners that will be able to compete with the best in the world as Nigeria has the talents and potential that can give the East Afficans a run for their money if properly annexed and developed.

Meanwhile, FCT Director of Sports, Lucas Istifanus, has assured stakeholders that their trust in delivering a successful event lies in the organizers, Unicentral Resources Generation Limited as over sixty companies bidded before Unicentral Resources Generation Limited's track record stands them out.

Istifanus disclosed that modalities are in place to host a highly successful event that will act as a springboard to bring more International sporting events to Abuja as the spiral effect will rub on the economics of Abuja and its environs.

The prize money 

The organizer also announced the same pay packet for both men and women winners in the different categories of the races as there are also provisions for rewarding Nigeria's top 10 finishers apart from the overall winners. 

The top three finishers in male and female categories will pocket $55,000, $40,000, and $30,000, the highest in the history of marathons in Nigeria.

The top three Nigerian finishers will also earn ₦3m, ₦2m and N1 million respectively while the winner of the 10km and 5km races will go home with  N1 million and 500 million Naira respectively.