Edo Athletics Association Sets Up Technical Committee For 6th Okpekpe Race

A technical committee to see to the successful organisation of the sixth edition of the IAAF Silver Label Okpekpe international 10km road race has been constituted by the Edo State Athletics Association in Benin, the Edo state capital.

The committee is headed by Paschal Emale and has 12 members including Otii Ignatius who will serve as secretary and Otupate Adebisi Richard who will serve as the assistant secretary.

Brown Ebewele, the Route and Participation Coordinator for the Okpekpe race, believes the full involvement of the host state’s athletics association is in line with the race organisers’ plan to ensure athletics officials in Edo state are not only given a sense of belonging but to also recognise their importance as far as organising a successful race is concerned.

“I am a stickler for due process and I believe that in any event,the local association must be allowed to play its role. Give it to the organisers of the Okpekpe race who have always involved officials from the Edo Athletics Association. Now we want to take it a step further because many of the people serving in the technical committee are former athletes and athletics coaches who understand the rules of the sport,” said Ebewele, a member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

‘With the sixth edition of the Okpekpe race holding this May,it is clear the race has come to stay and there is the need to develop more local capacity for the organisation of the race.There is also the need to strengthen community capacity to participate in both the technical and administrative organisation of the race,’Ebewele added.

He is convinced the elevation of the Okpekpe race status to a first ever silver label race in West Africa will require the involvement of more technically savvy officials.

Meanwhile,chairman of the technical committee, Emale says the role of the members among other things is to give technical advice to the Main Organising Committee (MOC) for the race.

“We have technically sound minds in the Edo state Athletics Association who have been involved in the organisation of road races in the past and they will offer advice on the technical organisation of the race,’he said and added that the advice will be passed onto the MOC for the race through Ebewele who facilitated the setting up of the committee.

 “Honourable Ebewele is one of the best brains in track and field in Nigeria today and we in Edo state Athletics Association are delighted with his appointment into the MOC of the race.He is a former technical committee chairman of the AFN and a proud son of Edo State,” said Emale.

The Okpekpe international 10km road race will be the first IAAF Silver Label 10km race of the year.It will hold a day before the IAAF Gold Label Tata Consultancy Services World 10K in Bangalore, India.

The race is the only road race recognised by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) in Nigeria and the sixth edition will hold on May 12,2018 in Okpkepe near Auchi.It is organised by Pamodzi Sports Marketing, leaders in sports marketing and hospitality business in Nigeria.