Two Kenyans were among the top three winners of the maiden edition of the Accra Inter-City Homowo Marathon, held over the weekend in Accra, Ghana.
The 21km Half Marathon saw over 700 athletes competing for the ultimate prize, which saw Martin Tirop of Kenyan picking his first career medal with a time of 1:04:05 to beat Ghana’s Kooga Atia to the second position.
Atia nearly pulled off a stunning finish during the race but could only settle for the silver medal, clocking a time of 1:04:47.
It was a dominant performance from the Kenyans, as Dennis Tumuti, a 10km expert took home the bronze medal with a season's personal best of 1:05:37.
In an interview after his victory, Tirop revealed that it was his first international competition and that he was delighted to emerge victor of the race.
"I am very delighted to win my first major title. It was my first time running in Ghana and despite the weather conditions, I emerged the winner, so I am happy.
"He (Atia) gave me a tough competition, but I stood my ground and edged him at the finish point," he said.
In the women's category, one of Ghana's finest long-distance runners, Lariba Zakat Juliana, made Ghana proud by edging Kenyan's Chebet Zeddy to win gold.
It was a keenly contested race in the women's category, but Lariba's time of 1:17:25 was enough to beat Zeddy, who clocked 1:17:32 while Ghana's Titi Rosina settled for bronze.
The Homowo festival is celebrated by the people of Ga in the capital each year in remembrance of their migration to Ghana from Nigeria.