Winners of the men and women race of this year’s Obudu international mountain race will go home with $50,000 each for their efforts, reveals the local organising committee for the race.

Honourable Patrick Ugbe, a member of the committee who is also the Cross River state Commissioner for Sports disclosed this in Calabar yesterday. Ugbe said the prize money outlay  for the  9th edition of the race and the 5th African Nations Mountain Running Championships which holds on Saturday, November 23 is unchanged from the previous three  editions.

Three  years ago, the total prize money for the 6th edition of the race was increased by over $35,000 by the organisers following the introduction of the women’s version of the African Nations Mountain Running Championship.

The total prize money which has gone up from $245, 500 to $278, 000 has been retained for this year’s edition. The prize money for the first to the 10th position for this year’s race remains the same with the winners in each gender category going home with $50,000 each while $20,000 and $9,000 respectively will go to the second and third placed finishers. The prizes for 4th -10th placed finishers in each category also remain at $4, 500, $4, 000, $3, 000, $2, 500, $2,000, $1, 500 and $1, 000 respectively.

Ugbe explains the reason for the unchanged prize monies.

‘His Excellency, the executive governor of Cross River state wants the race to maintain its status as the highest paying mountain race in the world. He is happy with the way the competition has been organised since its maiden edition in 2005 and wants us to make this year’s event even bigger and better in terms of the technical organisation of the race as well as the quality of athletes who will participate’, he said.

The African Championship draws a prize money of $15,000 for first team position,  $10, 000 for second and $7, 500 for third team position for both men and women.

The prize  monies for best Nigerian finishers (men/women)  are also unchanged with the top three finishers going home with $2, 000, $1, 500 and $1, 000 respectively.

The Obudu international mountain race is organized by the Cross River State Government, in conjunction with the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN). It enjoys tremendous support from the African Athletics Confederation(CAA), the World Mountain Running Association,(WMRA) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).