The annual Okpekpe 10km road race will get a new prize money regime the organisers have announced. This year’s race has been fixed for May 7. Spokesman for the race, Dare Esan said that the top eight finishers will get a total of $92,000 in prize money, with winners in each
gender category going home with $15,000 while $10,000 and $7,000 respectively will go to the second and third placed finishers. ‘’The prizes for 4th-8th placed finishers in each gender category are $5000, $3,000, $2,500, $2,000, and $1,500 respectively,’ said Esan who also revealed the introduction of performance bonuses to this year’s race. “Athletes achieving a world leading time will be eligible for a special bonus, which will be revealed in due course,’ further said Esan who noted that the performance must be an improvement on the existing time. He further revealed that the organisers of the race were considering using at least a pacemakers to help the athletes in their record-chasing mission. “Pacemakers are runners who lead a middle- or long distance running event for the first section to ensure a fast time and are frequently employed by race organisers for world record attempts with specific instructions for lap times. This time we are employing them for world leading times,” Esan explained.
Source - Vanguard
