Okpekpe Race Organisers Hail Ebenyo on Marathon Debut 

Organisers of the historic, gold label Okpekpe International 10km Road Race have congratulated Daniel Simiu Ebenyo on his successful marathon debut.        Ebenyo, the 2023 Okpekpe race champion and record holder, ran 2:06.04 to finish fifth in his first ever race over the 42.195km at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.                                         

Okpekpe Race Director, Zak Amodu, congratulated the 29-year-old for his successful transition to a full marathon runner.                 

“Daniel has shown, once again, that he is one of the best distance runners in the world. A lot of athletes have either failed to make any inspiring mark or failed to finish on their marathon debut, but Daniel did not just finish, but he ran a world-class time by any standard. We are really proud of him,” said Amodu in a statement.                            

Ebenyo ran a course record 28 minutes, 28 seconds to win the men’s title at the ninth Okpekpe international 10km road race in 2023 and went on to finish among the medalists at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest,  Hungary and the World Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia later that year.                     

Amodu is confident Ebenyo  will win his first marathon major very soon after his debut in Chicago.                            

Ebenyo is the second Okpekpe road race champion to make a successful transition to the full marathon after Ethiopia’s Leul Gebresilase who won the 10km race in 2017 and placed second at the Standard Chartered Dubai marathon the following year.                             

Last year, Gebreselassie was third in the marathon event at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.                                          

“We are always interested in the progress of athletes who competed at our event. The Okpekpe race has launched some of them to international stardom, and we are confident many more will follow the path created by Ebenyo and Gebreselassie,” added Amodu.                                          

The Okpekpe road race is the first road running event in Nigeria to have its race course measured by a World Athletics accredited course measurer.                      

It is also the first road race in Nigeria, nay West Africa, to be granted a label status in 2015.