Lagos City Marathon sets sights on Global Platinum Label
The Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has received a renewed push towards achieving the World Athletics Platinum Label. With the backing of Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the
The Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has received a renewed push towards achieving the World Athletics Platinum Label. With the backing of Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the National Sports Commission (NSC), and Access Bank, the race is aggressively pursuing the World Athletics Platinum Label, a distinction held by only a handful of the world's most prestigious marathons.
Innocent Ike, Managing Director of Access Bank Group, described the Platinum target as the natural evolution of a decade-long journey. "This started with a vision for excellence," Ike noted. "We are taking deliberate steps—improving structure, credibility, and international appeal—to ensure we don't just participate in the global conversation but lead it."
The 11th edition in 2026 saw approximately 42,000 participants, a record that NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko highlighted as proof of the event’s growing "sports economy."
Dikko revealed that World Athletics officials have already lauded the event as one of the "cleanest and best-organized" in Africa.
He described Platinum Label status as the collective ambition of all stakeholders involved in the marathon’s growth.
“That’s the ambition(Platinum Label status),” Dikko said. “This year, about 42,000 people registered for the race.
“Everything comes together just the way it should be. And it’s quite amazing.”
Dr. Hamzat emphasized that the marathon is a cornerstone of Lagos’ broader youth agenda. Beyond the $50,000 top prize for international elites, the state is focused on the long-term development of local talent.
He noted that the "facelift" given to the race will yield results in 5–6 years as young Lagosians move through high-performance pipelines.
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“If you look at this game, if you look at the cost of which was used, it is giving the game a facelift, an uplift,” he said. “We have a group of young Lagosians, young Nigerians, that is capable in different types of sports, “Train them well, build them up and elevate them for the future.”
He explained that the impact of such development programmes may not be immediate but would become clearer in the coming years.
“So that is the essence for Lagos. We might not see the effect this year plus next year, but in five, six years’ time, we will start to see the effect,” he stated. “We are building them from the ground up, getting everybody involved.”
The 2026 race remained dominated by East African powerhouses, with Kenya's Ezra Kering taking the men’s title (2:11:55) and Ethiopia's Meseret Dinke winning the women’s category (2:37:36). However, the rise of local runners like Boyi Nyango (2:25:32) signals that the gap is narrowing.
