Nigerian woman and 5-time winner of the Okpekpe road race,
Deborah Pam, extended her title lead to a sixth title when she became the very first Nigerian woman winner of the IAAF Silver label road race in West Africa.
Making history
Pam broke her personal record and made Okpekpe history with her sixth straight win, as she raced to her second fastest time over the 10km race in 37 minutes and 58 seconds.
The home-based superb long distance runner – who ran her fastest time of 37 minutes 34 seconds at the maiden edition of the Okpekpe international 10km
road race in 2013 – is quite confident that given the right training, environment and support, she can surpass her previous records.
Pam told the media:
‘”I know I can be as good as the East Africans if I can get the necessary support. There is no way we can compete against the Kenyans and the Ethiopians if we are neglected by government. Nigerians should be proud we have a silver label race in Nigeria but we will continue to play second fiddle to the East Africans if our officials fail to provide the right environment for us in terms of training and logistics…”
In the men’s category, 2015 winner Emmanuel Gyang took the title, finishing the race in 32 minutes, 45 seconds.
Gideon Goyet followed with a time of 32 minutes and 57 seconds, while Sodiq Ismail settled for third place with a time of 33 minutes and 15 seconds.
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This article was first published on 15th May 2018
achem
Achem Samuel is a writer and a musician, he is passionate about God and also an ardent fan of tech, sports and music.
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