Top Nigerian Runner to make comeback

Unbelievable! At almost 50, Abbas Mohammed returns to marathon • Eaglets’ Coach, Tella says he’ll fortify his squad for African U-17 tourney in Togo From Sport Desk Sunday, December 24, 2006 Former national marathon champion, Abbas Mohammed, has sensationally revealed that nothing would stop him from coming back to marathon next year. Abbas, who was the king of marathon for over a decade in the country, explained that he quit the sport that brought him fame and fortune, not because he was tired, but because the game went into limbo due to lack of sponsors. The forty-something-year-old army officer, who was in Obudu recently as an officiating officer for the Obudu Mountain Race, told Sunday Sunsport in an exclusive interview that lack of sponsors had been responsible for Nigeria’s inability to do well at international championships. Abbas, who expressed happiness with the emergence of the Obudu Mountain Race, said the huge prize money tagged on both the mountain race and the new MTN 42km race was largely responsible for his U-turn to the game. “You will agree with me that a lot has improved now in terms of financial rewards for marathoners. During our time, though there was prize money, it was not as huge as what sponsors and organisers of marathon races offer now. “I strongly believe in myself and my ability to stage a comeback. I know I can find my way back to the sport that I held forth for a very long time. “I will say partly that it’s the big financial reward that has motivated me to stage a comeback in the race. On the other hand, I feel pained that since we left the scene, the vacuum created has not been filled. “I am not only after the prize- money, I also want to re-launch Nigeria to her glorious height in marathon races. “For me, the Obudu Mountain Race is one of the best things that has happened to this country. “I’m already training, in preparation for next year’s edition of the mountain race. My ultimate aim is to dislodge those foreigners who come here to cart away the huge prize-money attached to the races. For me, it is going to be fire-for-fire, as I am determined to make bold history. “A lot of my fans have always snared at me whenever they see me in training, arguing that I rather rest my tired legs and allow the up-and-coming youths to takeover. But I tell you, age is a thing of the mind. “Yes, I retired because there were hitches here and there in the organisation of marathon races in the country. There were Milo-sponsored marathon and others, but when Milo pulled out of the competition, there was no other sponsor to organise and sponsor the races. And in the face of a huge lull in activities, we were ‘forced’ to quit the scene before MTN came to the rescue this time around. “We have seen now that the organisers are ready to include long distance races in their programme, that is why I am retracing my steps. “I have started training as I said earlier, and this is the sixth month since I began. I train to keep fit for next year’s competition. By this time next year, it would be one year I started training. That would enable me to compete in the 42km race. “I thank MTN for making it a long distance race, and not the half marathon stuff, which most people think I can no longer run. “I am forty something years old now, and I can still run. I am assuring my fans and Nigerians as a whole that I am still fit and would make the country proud again. “I can still win, all I need is adequate support. If Nigerians will give me the needed support, with the way I am going in training, the foreigners will definitely have a good run for their money.”