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The Lagos City Marathan sponsored by Access Bank has gotten the accreditation of the Internationl Assocition of Athletics Federation (IAAF), becoming the first full marathon in West Africa to be recognised as an IAAF Road Label race.
The latest recognition puts the Lagos City Marathon in the league of the world’s top road races such as New York, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo, Dubai, London, Roma, Paris, Berlin, and several others.
Thousands of marathons hold every year across the world but only 88 are recognised as IAAF Road Label races.
The conferment of the IAAF Road Race Bronze Label to the competition was announced last week ahead of the 3rd edition of the marathon in February 2018.
This accreditation validates the fact that the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon is world class.
Apart from establishing Lagos as a tourist destination for the world’s elite runners, the IAAF Label is also anticipated to impact the quality of runners in the 3rd edition of the marathon.
According to organisers, the marathon is not only about promoting sports and tourism in Lagos but also ensuring a healthy community of people.
The IAAF Label was introduced in 2008 as a means of designating the leading road races around the world. As such, the IAAF certification comes with stringent conditions which include but are not limited to: international elite field; the race course being closed to vehicular traffic; the route being measured to the standard of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS); use of electronic timing to generate the results; a specified number of doping tests being carried out and equal prize money for the participants.