Tuedon (Tee) Omatsola Morgan was an another bored mum, but as a true Warri person, she never wanted to “carry last”. That zeal to break free, made her to discover a hidden passion… long distance running. And as if that was not enough, she has taken it to the extreme as it was demonstrated lately, when she participated in the North Pole marathon an event even the die hard extreme sports enthusiasts would think twice before joining in.

But for Omatsola Morgan, the adventure was worth the while, it was the only way to keep pushing her body to the limits and for sure Jamaican sprint legend Marlene Ottey would look over her shoulder. Omatsola Morgan will be clocking 42 this year, blessed with four teenage boys, she is carrying on with the zeal of a 20 year old athlete who wants to conquer the world.  

A little overweight problems pushed her to gym to burn some fat, and then walking and jogging followed. She started running, and then the world of marathon beckoned to her. She discussed her goal with a fellow runner and he practically laughed at her.

She just shrugged and let him know, “You’re not me. I’m Tee, a child of God and I will run a marathon. Just watch me!” she spoke to Ben Efe recently about her experiences.

You are the first Nigerian that has ever ran in the North Pole marathon. Why North Pole considering the fact that you are Nigerian and you reside in Qatar?

Yeah I live in Qatar in the middle east, which is even hotter than Nigeria at 31 degrees Celsius. And the north pole marathon is -41 Celsius. In February I did the triple seven, that is running in seven marathon in seven days in seven continents and there was a lot of travel getting on and off the plane. It was my second time of doing it, but somehow I needed a new challenge and I read about the North Pole marathon, it is the coldest place and the coldest marathon on the planet. It is the most difficult race and a lot of people don’t finish. But I said to myself that I am going to do this. I wanted to prove to myself I can do it. I wanted to put myself in a position where other people can see me and also aspire to achieve something, it doesn’t necessary have to be the North Pole marathon it can be something else. There is no limit to what we human beings can do. I want other people to be inspired.

When you were young and in school did you ever participate in sports?

No! My P.E teacher will tell you my story better. I would rather serve punishment, scrub the bathroom and toilet than participate in Sports. I was one of those people who will help set up the tracks and other equipment that they needed for the sports event. I never laced up a spike shoe. I found participating in sports embarrassing in fact it was all about academics. I was one of those with the mindset that you have to be a doctor, an accountant, lawyer and engineer. A lot of parents didn’t see the need for their kids to participate in sports then.

But since I have been doing this, it is been very fulfilling and I would recommend that Nigerians should take to sports. It will be nice if we have a sports culture in the country. I am not happy that Nigeria as country don’t have a marathon race that is internationally acclaimed. I am not talking about the half marathons that were once organized. But a full fledged marathon

So now that you are into sports; and based on what you said. You want a lot of people to be inspired; are you thinking about doing something to encourage the young ones to participate in sports?

Last December I was in Nigeria and I organized two races. It was a children and adult race. Just seeing those kids run made me to conclude sports can make you challenge yourself and you can stand all trials. I want to get involve in Nigerian sports, I want to see more youths taking to sports, if they can utilise their time participating in sports, they will not get themselves into things they shouldn’t be doing. Sports builds the youths for the future it puts them in a position of strength.

Then you will be in good position to advise our government on what to do to improve sports in Nigeria. Because the sports industry in Nigeria is more like a child’s play.

Definitely, I have met a lot of Nigerian sports officials. I can say that some of them have not done enough to improve on the country’s sports. They might have managerial experience, but they have never participate in sports. Someday, I want to come back home and be involved actively in sports management. I want to see the Nigerian flag any where there is a sports event. There are a lot of international races and there are few Nigerians participating. Sometimes I am the only Nigerian in those events. I want government and corporate bodies to get involved, they can support individuals and charity events. We only see Kenyans and Ethiopians in long distance races, we want to see Nigerians as well.

Do you follow Nigerian athletes

Yes I do. In May we have the Doha athletics meet and I have always gone to see them. I have met with Blessing Okagbare on two occasion and I am very much interested in track and field and running. I am also interested in other sports. In January, the swimmers where here in Doha and I also went to see them. I think that the Nigerian government need to invest more money into athletics, they feel that there are other things they want to do with money, but it is equally important to invest in the youths to keep them from destructive activities.