10km Road Race winner to challenge East Africans’ dominance

Winner of the men’s category of the 10-kilometre Lotus Bank Abeokuta Road Race, Francis James, has set his eyes on ending East Africans’ dominance of marathons and road races in Nigeria.

James and Blessing Shambaz on Saturday beat the field to win the men’s and women’s categories of the second Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Race, respectively, to earn the $1,000 prize monies for each category.

The race was officially flagged off by the first vice president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Solomon Ogba, who was supported by Mr Nadin Khan, the president of the World Ultra Running.

James finished the race in 30 minutes 11 seconds to add to his victory at the Abuja half marathon earlier this year.

Speaking at the end of the competition in Abeokuta, James said that he had been working on improving on his time to be in a position to compete effectively against the more renowned Kenyans and Ethiopians in road running.

According to James, the victory at Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10m Race has given him the confidence to do better in others races coming up in Nigeria and an indication that he’s very close to making history for Nigeria in subsequent marathon races.

“Very soon, Nigerian runners will start beating the East Africans in these races. It is just a matter of time and I want to be part of that history,” he said.

Gyang Raymond returned at a time of 30 minutes 14 seconds in the men’s race to win the $750 prize money, while third-placed Gyang David Boyi (30m 54secs) got $500.

In the second position in the women’s race was Daylop Patience (36m 98.28secs), while Agofure Charity (37m 88 secs) came in third. They got the same prize monies as their men’s counterparts.

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