Six African Nations Do Battle In Obudu

Six African countries will be fielding teams for the second African Nations Mountain Running Championship which holds alongside the prestigious Obudu international race this Saturday at the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obudu, Cross River state.
Patrick Ugbe, Media head for the event said while fielding questions on the preparedness of the local organising committee for the race.
Ugbe, revealed that Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Egypt have sent in their entries for the race and their athletes have started arriving for the one day race via the Murtala Mohammed international airport in Lagos. 'Of course we have Nigeria as the sixth nation', added Ugbe who further revealed that the race will also witness the first edition of the African nations mountain running championships for women.
'Last year when the championships made its debut,it was restricted to only the men. This year His Excellency, Governor Liyel Imoke has approved the addition of the women's version. So come Saturday we will be having a 3-in-1 race at the Obudu Ranch Resort', he revealed.
The increase in number of events has led to a corresponding increase in the prize money to be paid out and this Ugbe says Governor Imoke has approved without blinking an eye. The total prize money has gone up from $245,500 to $278,000.The prize money for the first to the 10th position for this year's race however remains the same with the winners in each gender category going home with $50,000 each while $20,000 and $9,000 respectively will go to the second and third placed finishers. The prizes for 4th -10th placed finishers in each category also remain at $4,500, $4,000, $3,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively', further revealed Ugbe.
The prize monies for best Nigerian finishers (Male/Female) and Media Race (Male/Female) are also unchanged with the top three finishers going home with $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively.
Also unchanged are the prize monies for the Children’s race where a total of N590,000 will be shared among the top 10 finishers with the top three in the boys and girls categories carting home N100,000, N80,000 and N50,000 respectively. Fourth to 10th placed finishers will get N20,000,N10,000,N9,000,N8,000,N7,000,N6,000 and N5,000 respectively.