Abbas Mohammed set for Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, AFN’s Cross-Country race

Olopade, Alli speak on event expo Former national record holder in full marathon, Abbas Mohammed, will lead a team of long distance runners to Lagos to battle with international elite athletes in this year’s gold-label Access Bank Lagos City Marathon.

From mid 1980s till the late 1990s, there was, perhaps, no more beloved and famous marathoner in Nigeria and the entire West Africa sub-region than Mohammed. He was almost the sole reason many Nigerians followed long distance races then.

And for almost three decades, Mohammed’s national record of 2:16:06 seconds, which he set on September 11, 1990 at a full marathon race in Lagos, remains unbroken.

Apart from dominating the national scene, Mohammed was able to stamp his authority at the international level, competing with world’s best marathoners at the Seoul ’88 Olympic Games, Rome ’95 World Military Games in Italy, as well as the 1997 Summer Universiade Games held in Italy’s famous city of Sicily.

Before then, Mohammed had participated in the Great London Marathon in 1981 alongside another Nigerian runner, Great Ishaku, and the Los Angeles ’86 Marathon, where he competed alongside Umaru Bukaboni.

Now, the marathon legend, who is currently Director of Sports, Nigerian Army in Borno State, has his eyes on two events, the maiden AFN National 10km Cross Country Championship in Jalingo, Taraba State, and the gold-label Access Bank Lagos City Marathon. He wants to showcase his athletes to the entire world.

While the AFN 1st National 10km Cross Country Championship, being organised in fulfillment of the road map of the Tonobok Okowa-led board to develop athletics across the six-geo-political zones of Nigeria, holds on Saturday, January 28, in Jalingo, the Access Bank Lagos City