2 October 2008
Lagos — In a bid to fulfil the expectations of Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke who has charged that the fourth edition of the Obudu International Mountain race should serve as benchmark for subsequent editions, the Local Organising Committee, (LOC), for the race has confirmed the return of reigning world Mountain Race champion, Jonathan Wyatt of New Zealand for this year's race which holds on Saturday, November 29 at the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obudu, Cross River State.
Senator Imoke had at a meeting with the LOC in his office in Calabar charged that this year's race should be the best ever,adding that it must continue to attract the best mountain runners from around the globe.
Disclosing the capture, as it were of Wyatt who recently won the world mountain race trophy held in the luxury resort town of Crans Montana, LOC chairman, William Archibong revealed that his committee will stop at nothing to ensure the Governor's directive is carried out to the letter.
"I am delighted to announce that Jonathan Wyatt,the reigning world mountain race champion who also leads the chart in the World Mountain Race Grand Prix courtesy his victory on Saturday at the sixth WMRA Grand Prix meeting, the Schneeberglauf in Puchberg, Austria has confirmed his participation for this year's race", announced Archibong in Calabar who also revealed Wyatt only needs to make an appearance at the final Grand Prix meeting on October 4 at Smarna Gora, Slovenia to be crowned the overall WMRA Grand Prix winner.
"We at the LOC will leave no stone unturned in delivering the best mountain race not only in terms of the prize money which is the biggest anywhere in the world but also in terms of the quality of athletes for the race as well as the organisation",he continued,thanking Senator Imoke for the confidence he has in his team.
"There is also an added attraction to this year's race and it is the Children's Novelty race, which has been introduced by His Excellency, the Governor, to help our young ones horn their skills in Mountain Running. The Children's race will feature on the same day as the Media Race. In fact the week long activities leading to the race proper on November 29 will also include a seminar on Doping in Sports and Gala Night",further revealed Archibong.
In a related development, the Obudu Local Government Council recently organized a Mini-Mountain Race, to help prepare its athletes for the main race. The Obudu International Mountain Race is the highest paying Mountain Race in the World, with a star prize of $50,000 for both men and women.
The race holds annually at the prestigious Obudu Ranch Resort, which is now under the World Class Management of African Sun Limited.
Last year's race, which had the sponsorship support of Coca-Cola, was dominated by the East Africans.
Ethiopian Habtamu Fikadu Awash took home the $50,000 for the men with a time of 42.50-minutes, while Rita Jeptoo Sitieni of Kenya took the $50,000 for the women, with a new course record time of 51.42.
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