Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State will be agog on Saturday 27th of March when a 10kilometer race tagged: Amender Marathon that will be flagged off at Eleyele junction, the starting point and end at Lekan Salami Sports Complex Ibadan.
The maiden road race event which is being organized by the Amender Group has gotten the nod of Oyo State Ministry of Youths according to Ahmed Kayode Abdulwahab the CEO of Amender who said Oyo State Sports Council is also supporting the race.
Abdulwahab, who is also a distance race athlete, disclosed to the newsmen that the race was established to further create opportunity and a platform for long distance runners to be engaged in a competitive atmosphere.
Abdulwahab, however stressed the importance and benefits of long distance running apart from winning laurels and cash prizes, saying it improves endurance, trains the body to use fat for fuel and increases muscle power.
“It improves Endurance: when you’re running long, you’re developing greater aerobic endurance so your body doesn’t have to work as hard to attain the same performance level next time, as it also trains body to use fat for fuel, as the long run will teaches your body to tap into fat as an energy source before your carbohydrates are depleted.
“It increases muscle power: During long runs, your body recruits fast-twitch muscle fibers to help with slow-twitch tasks, like running a marathon, so you have more muscle fibers trained to get you through the marathon. Other physiological benefits include the increased number and size of mitochondria, which are the energy powerhouse of your muscles.
Members of the organising committee for the 10kilo road race are: Ahmed Lanre Abdulqodri, Ibukun Omotosho, Coach Emilo Taiwo and Coach Ismail Alao, both of Oyo State Sports Council, Ahmed Latifat, Bukola Ogooluwa and Abdulyekeen Abdulmuhmin.
