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The Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has submitted it’s application for an upgrade to become the biggest and the highest rated full Road Race rated marathon in the continent of Africa.
The application was submitted at the Headquarters of the IAAF World Athletics in Monaco, France, by the Technical Director of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Yusuf Ali.
Ali, disclosed in Benin City, Edo State over the weekend that, the Access Bank Lagos city Marathon, after meeting all the criteria, has the confidence that the IAAF World Athletics will from all Indications grant their prayers to become a Gold Label road race considering the calibre and class of the international elite runners and the number of countries they are from for the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon for the next edition of the race on February 4, 2023, in Lagos.
If this should happen, the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, will become the first full road race in Africa to attain a Gold Label status.
Yusuf Ali stressed that: “The Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, was the first on the African continent to attain the Bronze Label status after just two years of its inception.
“The Lagos City Marathon was also the first to have one thousand runners and the same prize money for male and female winners in a competitive race. And also the first to advance to the Silver Label status in just after four years of competition as Bronze Label. We have the confidence that come February 4, 2023, we would have been upgraded to the Gold Label status.
World Athletics Label Road Races are races that the World Athletics (until 2019: IAAF) designates as one of the “leading road races around the world.”The classification was first introduced for the 2008 running season, upon the suggestion of the IAAF Road Running Commission. The races are split into three categories: marathons, half marathons and other. Within the “other” category are traditional road race distances, over which World Athletics world records can be set, along with some “Classical races”, which span unusual distances. The Labels are considered a prestigious award by race organisers, and include the six World Marathon Majors.