Ugbe
The World Mountain Race Association (WMRA) Mountain Running World Champion Philip Kiplimo of Uganda is leading 120 athletes to the 9th Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race. This was disclosed to sports journalists in Calabar by Mr. Patrick Ugbe, the Cross River Commissioner for Youths and Sports Development.
Ugbe also told our correspondent that the mountain race is scheduled for Nov. 23, 2013 adding that three other Ugandans, Geoffrey Kusuro, Nathan Ayeko and Peter Kibet, are also beinf expected. The trio, who came second, third and fourth, respectively, at the world championship in Poland last September, are also being expected.
“We are looking at about 110 to 120 athletes for the championship. By the last meeting we will arrive at the exact final number. The athletes coming must be professionals; this is a professional race. We have entries from Cameroon, South Africa, Uganda, Ethopia, Kenya, USA and few other countries coming for the race”.
Ugbe also recounted the success story of the rugged and energy sapping Obudu Mountain race.
“The traditional African road runners have started dominating mountain running. Africa was not into mountain running before. But because of what we did, we kind of exposed Africa to mountain running and Africa is now dominating mountain running. At the World Championship last year, Eritrea won the World Championship and this year, Uganda won the World Championship which held in Poland.
“Uganda came first, second, third and fourth respectively and that team will be here in Nigeria. So the world champion will be here in Nigeria. So with the dominance of the African teams, we should expect much more at Obudu. Last year’s champion, Abebe Dinkesa is also coming,’’ he said.
He also told newsmen that the recent landslide at the Ranch road did not affect the race course.
Ugbe said: “The landslide did not affect the route of the race and apart from that work is going on to clear out the debris there at the moment. But the most important thing there is that it did not affect the route course. It affected the drive way before the climb and it will be cleared before the race. We are very prepared and we have been meeting regularly to fine tune our plans for this year. As you know, each year we race the bar in terms of the organization and we believe that this year will not be different from what we are doing.
“We are trying to look at last year and it was very challenging because last year was the very first year we had the race on a very different race road course and because of that we were faced with lots of challenges. We have looked back at last year and we are trying to see how we could be more efficient this year taking into consideration the challenges. The route itself has been marked and it is just to ensure that the technical teams do their work very perfectly with timing and the medical team does its work very perfectly.
He charged Nigerians to always support the race: “This is the only true international sporting events in Nigeria which has been running consistently. We are in the ninth year and it calls for support from well-meaning Nigerians and the private sector.
“It is a race that is fully funded by the Cross River state government and the Cross River state Government will not continue to carry that burden for ever. We are actually appealing to the private sector to see this as an opportunity to derive the benefits from marketing their brands as well to the global community”.
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