Cross River State Tourism Bureau Unveils 3rd Edition of Calabar Marathon Billed for April 19
By Missang Akpet
All is now set for the hosting of the 3rd edition of the annual Calabar Marathon race.
The race, tagged “Calabar Marathon for Sweet Prince”, is billed to hold on Saturday, April 19, 2025, with the 1st prize winners male and female categories billed to cart home N1,000,000 each while the first runner up goes home with N500,000 each.
The Managing Director of Cross River State Tourism Bureau, Prince Ojoi Oti, while briefing newsmen in Calabar, said the Calabar Marathon for Sweet Prince is a marketing strategy that will be used to market Cross River State as the preferred tourism destination.
Ojoi disclosed that the race will obviously have a multiplier effect on almost all sectors of the state’s economy with businesses set to experience increase in sales.
“For the few days sports enthusiasts, tourist participants, and stakeholders will be in the city, the restaurants, pubs, bars, the transport sector, hoteliers, clubs, even the local vendors will have a boost in patronage.
“For us at the Tourism Bureau, we take this event as a marketing strategy for destination Cross River. You can recall that the 1st and 2nd prizes last year were won by people who came from outside Cross River, this shows that the Marathon is beginning to have an impact outside the state,” he said.
Speaking on the impact of the marathon on youths, the Commissioner for Youths Development, Barr Ijom Ukam, stated that sports generally is a means of developing physical and mental well-being, which he said is one of the core mandates of the ministry.
“The idea of this marathon is to take the youths out of crime and other negative vices to this positive energy called Calabar marathon. What we will do is as participants come to test their health status and get prepared for the race, we take out time to counsel them about their health, societal ethics, and the need to stay away from crime, drugs, and other negative vices.
“Last year we mobilized over 5,000 participants for the marathon; this year we are poised to even do more. We are also encouraged by the fact that the prize money has increased, so we call on the youths of Cross River State to take advantage of this and they might be smiling home with the N1,000,000 (One Million Naira) prize money,” Ukam said.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties, Barr Ekpenyong Akiba, on his part, revealed that the Calabar Marathon, which has become an annual event, is growing bigger and better yearly in terms of participation, partnership, and even the prize money, which has increased from N500,000 to N1,000,000.
He described sports as an activity that enhances global interaction while expressing confidence that the Calabar Marathon will gradually grow to become an international event.
The 24km Calabar marathon, which will hold on Saturday, April 19, will begin from the Millennium Park through the carnival route and terminate at the Millennium Park.
