Amponsah sets a new national record in the Sekondi-Takoradi Marathon

William Amponsah, a 21-year-old University of Education Winneba student won the first ever Sekondi-Takoradi Marathon to be held on Boxing Day.

Amponsah now officially holds the new 21km record in Ghana having clocked a time of 1:02:51 to win the ultimate cash prize of GHC 10,000, as well as some goodies from the sponsors.

Afaylar Samuel, a Cape Coast University student came second to take home a cash prize of GHC5,000, while Ishmael Arthur, a military officer, took home the cash prize of GHC3000 having placed third place.

Speaking to the media after setting the new national record, Amponsah was elated to have broken his previous personal best (1:04:38) to achieve this new milestone and looks forward to a better future in his career as a long-distance runner. distance.

The race was hotly contested, especially with Kenyans, Ivorians coming in, but my goal was to win the race and I’m glad I finally did it in an impressive way.

“The Covid-19 era has really been a challenge for long-distance runners, but we are grateful to the organizers for such an event,” he said.

The women’s race, on the other hand, was won by 16-year-old Belinda Sergbor, who also won the cash prize of GHC 10,000 followed by Sherrifa Moro, who came in second (GHC5000), while Babulweri Felicia took home the GHC3000 3rd place cash prize.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Mr. Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah, Minister of the Western Region, was excited about the successful organization of the first edition of the Marathon and hoped that it would be one of the long-distance running events. largest in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We believe that the best way to show Sekondi-Takoradi to the world is by organizing these types of marathons because all the big cities in the world can be associated with big marathons, one can talk about the London Marathon, Boston Marathon, among others.

“This year’s event attracted some foreign nationals, but next year we expect more than 1000 athletes from around the world and it will certainly be bigger,” he said.

The first edition of the Sekondi-Takoradi Marathon was organized by Medivents Consults in collaboration with the Western Regional Coordinating Council and sponsored by Cowbell, The Inquisitor, GOIL, Acqua-Blue, GNPC Foundation, Ghana Gas, Africa World Airlines, Best Western Plus, Mybet .Africa, among others.