Femi Olusanya, a police officer and an 11-year old girl, Abigael Ogunbowale, attained recognitions with other Kenya nationals at the maiden edition of the Ijebu-Ode Heritage Half Marathon powered by Rite Foods Limited last Saturday.
Although it was a clean sweep for the Kenyans, Olusanya became the “First Ijebu Man” to complete the race while Abigael became “a star” completing the 21-kilometre race at the Dipo Dina Stadium in the ancient city.
Apart from the popularly grassroots coach known as Buka T in Ijebu, nobody, including Abigael’s parents obliged her participation in the race, but she shocked all comers completing the half marathon.
In response to her courageous act, Mr. Seleem Adegunwa, the Managing Director of Rite Foods Limited, makers of Bigi Table Water, the official water for the race, rewarded Abigael with N250, 000.
Adegunwa affirmed that it was a wonderful beginning, seeing a girl of such age competing with international stars. He encouraged her to sustain the stride.
He pointed out that Rite Foods was proud to identify with worthy initiatives that add value to lives, as demonstrated in the just concluded Bigi soft Drinks’ sponsored Nigerian Idol music reality show for budding talents.
The Rite Foods boss commended the athletes who participated in the race and encouraged them to do same with such high spirit next year.
“As the son of the soil, I will continue to promote activities that will bring honour to our people by bringing events of this nature home.
“By our composition in Nigeria, we are good at sports, we just need to harness it so we can move to greater heights. I was not surprised today to see a 55-year-old man and an 11-year-old finishing the race. We are naturally gifted and only need to improve on our talents.”
He promised that his company intends to do more in sports with the Abeokuta Marathon also coming up later in the year.
