Armed Forces Half Marathon: Cars Up For Grab As 3rd Edition Holds Today
By Amaechi Agbo
Cars of different sizes and make including G5 SUV, Toyota Yaris and Hyndai Elentra are up for grab as the Chief of Defence Staff 3rd Edition of the Armed Forces Half Marathon holds today, Saturday, June 15, 2019, Bestchoicesports.com.ng can report
Tagged ‘Abuja 2019’ with the theme “Together We Are,” the 3rd edition of the Armed Forces Half Marathon will kick off at the Public Service Institute, Dutse Junction, along Kubwa Expressway, Abuja.
The marathon is a combination of marathon and championship, is not the regular marathon which is based on individual, this one is also based on team work.
Emphasising the importance of the exercise, the chairman, organising committee, Commodore Nuhu Bala told Bestchoicesports.com.ng that the Chief of Defence Staff intends to achieve the theme of the exercise by bringing everybody on board to “have a sense of belonging, interact, such that we develop a stronger synergy in order to enhance our operational capability.
“Therefore, the first overall will have a star prize of a Toyota Yaris 2018 Model. Then the first overall team will have the IVM G5 SUV donated by Innoson Vehicle manufacturing.
“The veteran officers are participating; those that are 50 years and above. The idea is to bring them up to date physically such that they can be mentally useful and contribute positively to the course of the defence of the nation.
“It is on this basis that the Hyndai Elentra has bee allocated for the best veteran. Those are the star prizes.
On the location for hosting the event, so far, the past two editions have been held in the FCT and the 3rd edition is coming up in Abuja as well. But I believe that subsequently, considerations will be given to other areas in order to have a wider participation.
“Let me inform you that the half marathon is not restricted to the residents of Abuja because it involves all the security agencies in the country. So somebody who is living in Port Harcout, Zamfara, Uyo and belongs to the armed forces or other security agencies has the right and opportunity to participate. What changes is just the venue. But when we spread it across to other states, you can imagine the logistics and other challenges that would follow,” he said.
On the modalities to control trafic during the exercise, Commodore Bala said “We are going to mark the route and the public is already being sensitised about the marathon. We have also written to the FCT requesting for the closure of the road particularly from the starting point to the end point during the duration of the event. So, adequate arrangements have been put in place in a very legal and right manner to ensure that rights of law-abiding citizens are not infringed upon neither will their daily business activities be interrupted.
“There will be no abuse of human rights of anybody as the armed forces personnel are highly disciplined security agents.
“There will be 250 marathoners for the exercise however, there are other people that are none scoring that are also part of the event.
“There are also prizes for the women when we talk about gender which we are very sensitive about. There are prizes that have been allotted to best female, best female team and best female individuaI.
