A wave of international elite runners, including Ethiopian prodigy Lemi Teshome and Kenya’s Fridah Ndinda, will touch down in Lagos on Wednesday(Today )before heading to Auchi for Saturday’s 11th Okpekpe International 10km Road Race in Edo State.
Teshome, just 19, has already scorched a 27:17 in Lille, France, last month—ranking him among the world’s fastest over 10km this year. He’s determined to snap Kenya’s winning streak in the men’s race, a run that began after his compatriot Yasin Haji last triumphed in 2022.
In the women’s field, Ndinda aims to follow fellow Kenyan Gladys Kwamboka, who took the 2024 crown. Other notable arrivals include Kenyans Victor Kimosop, Julius Kibowen Kipkwony, and 28-minute-breaker Mazon Kipngetich, plus Uganda’s Enoch Chebet, Tanzania’s Jumanne Ngoya and Benjamin Ratsim, and Eritrea’s Felicien Muhitira (marathon PB 2:06:54). Kenya’s Sharon Chepkemoi and Ethiopia’s Wubrist Aschal are also expected in the women’s lineup.
On home soil, defending men’s champion James Musa faces a stiff test from 2023 winner Ismael Sadjo. In the women’s category, Patience Daylop Mwavwang seeks a third straight victory, but multiple-time champion Deborah Pam Badung—last atop the podium in 2019—is hungry for a comeback.
The Okpekpe race remains a West African pioneer: the region’s first World Athletics Label road race and the first in Nigeria with a World Athletics-certified measured course. Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo holds the men’s course record (28:28), while Kazakhstan’s Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui owns the women’s mark (32:38).
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