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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
It was a carnival of some sort in Anambra last Saturday as the Thanos Charity Foundation held its maiden Anambra Marathon competition.
Plateau State runner, Nyango Gyang emerged winner of the edition, defeating other marathoners with the record time of 2:26 mins to clinch the N1million prize money.
The 40km marathon, which was organised by Thanos Charity Foundation, in partnership with federal Ministry of Sports and the state government, began at the Ogbunike Toll gate, through Enugu -Onitsha expressway, and ended at Emmaus House, in Awka.
Gyang dominated the race as two others, Ismael Sadjoh and Selengwe Constant, came second and third, with cash prizes of #500,000 and #300,000 respectively.
Speaking after the exercise, Gyang expressed his delight, promised to do better in the next edition.
He said he got information about the marathon through his coach, who encouraged him to registered and participate, and commended organisers for making it open for all Nigerians irrespective of tribe and religion.
President of Thanos Charity Foundation, Mr Ugochukwu Ifeanyi said the idea behind the event, was to identify sports talents in the state, and give them platform to showcase their talents to the world.
He added that the Foundation is determined to improve sporting activities in Anambra state and they are partnering with the Ministry of Sports, Ministry of Commerce and Wealth Creation as well as the Ministry of Health.
He noted that the aim of the foundation is to beat the records of Lagos Marathon, adding that the best talents would be handed over to the Anambra state government to be trained and would represent the state at the National Sports Festival.
He said the Thanos Charity Foundation is poised to promote various sports entertainment and other objectives in line towards keying into the agenda of the Soludo administration in making Anambra a liveable and prosperous state in all ramifications in Nigeria.
