The world president of the International Association of Ultra Race, Nadeem Khan, has expressed his delight on the beautiful race course presented by the Local Organising Committee of the First Value Jet Remo 50km Ultra Race.
Khan, who was taken round the proposed route for the race in Sagamu and Ikenne, by the event’s General Manager, Yusuf Ali and the chief security officer for the race, ACP Gideon Akinsola, was ecstatic about the nature of the route which moved through the centre of the town in Sagamu and Ikenne.
“Its remarkable to have such a great route in Sagamu, moving down five kilometers and back up another five kilometers. What this means is that, after approval the runners will go round the course five times to cover the 50 kilometres distance of the Remo Ultra Race on December 7.
“I am very happy because the route would enable the Remo people of Nigeria to see the runners during competition and this will further uplift the development of the sport in Africa.”
Khan, added that, he has seen the route and the next stage is for the technical department of the IAUR to visit Remoland so as to measure the proposed route and once this is done and finally approved, the IAUR will go ahead to look at the African bid by Nigeria before announcing the event to the world as the first ever African Championship since the inception of the IAUR some 35 years ago.
“The ValueJet Remo 50km Ultra Race is historic as it is the first time that such will be taking place in Africa. Our main concentration had always been in Europe. And we believe strongly that, this race will help Nigerian runners attain greatness in distance running in years to come just as it happened to Polish athletes who ruled the world after hosting number of Ultra Races in their country.
“Not only that, the ValueJet 50km Remo Ultra Race would be the first time prize monies will be won by runners in the 35 years existence of the IAUR. This is quite commendable and a plus for Nigeria, this will make the December 7, 2019 race in Nigeria historic.”
Nadeem Khan, revealed that, the IAUR team of technical officials who will measure the Remo 50 Km Ultra Race route, will be in Nigeria on June 7, 2019 exactly six months to the event, in line with standard international best practices.
He noted that, the IAUR took interest in Nigeria following his experience with the Lagos City Marathon which stood out as a world class event in the last four years, where government support and massive drive by the private sector participation has been second to none.