Yomi Omogbeja (18/11/2007)

Nigerian journalists covering the Globacom Lagos International Half Marathon will have a personal feel of the race route when they take part in a media mock marathon on December 1.

The annual Media Mock Marathon which traditionally precedes the main event is a two-kilometre race scheduled to take off by 7 am from Glo World on 21 Adeola Odeku street, running through Elsie Femi Pearse street into Kofo Abayomi  street and out again to Adeola Odeku through Idowu Martins street, all on Victoria Island, Lagos.

The event sponsor, Globacom Limited, boosted the Lagos marathon in June with a $2million sponsorship of the Lagos International Half marathon now in it's 6th year, from a rival telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria Limited, that had bankrolled the event for the past five years.

The mock marathon will serve as a dress rehearsal for the main event, provide recreation, fun, and bonding for the journalists and provide an opportunity for interaction with the organisers and stakeholders.

The Globacom International Half Marathon will take place in Lagos on December 8, and will aslo comprise of a 2.805km corporate leg tagged the 'Corporate Fun Run' solely for the corporate sector.

Investment in sports

Globacom's Executive Director, Marketing Communications, Okon Iyanam, told reporters at the cheque presentation to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) in June that the company has deliberately invested heavily in sports because of its potentials to provide opportunities for people to earn a living.

He said: "We are aware that sports has tremendous potential to positively affect Nigeria's social and economic development, not only for its natural tendency to foster mutual understanding and conviviality among and between different sectors of society, but also for the economic spin-offs including new jobs which investment in sports, creates.

"Marathon is a mass-participation sport, with professional athletes competing alongside amateurs.

"In marathon, professional athletes run alongside company executives of blue chip companies, street traders, high school students, newspaper vendors and even the unemployed. There is no limit in the number of participants," he added.