Shehu Adamu, winner of the Nigerian Elite runners of the 7th Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, on Saturday attributed his victory to vigorous training and strict dietary control.

Adamu gave the hint in an interview on the sidelines of the event at the Lagos Atlantic City, venue of the finishing point.

The Plateau-born winner, who got N1 million for his efforts, said that he trained four times daily and observed strict dietary control for three months to emerge champion of the Nigerian Elite runners.

Adamu dethroned Istifanus Mayan, winner of the 2021 Edition of the Nigerian Elite runners.

In the female category of the Nigerian Elite group, Fadekemi Olukemi emerged champion.

Adamu described the Ethiopian and Kenyan runners as dominant winners of long distance races not only in Nigeria but the world over.

“I started preparing for this race about three months ago, and I had to train four times in a day because of the change in weather.

“To be perfect in marathon, one must train on high altitude like the Plateau mountains where I do train, I also eat light foods during the period.

“I know that I will face lots of challenges from other runners from Plateau because we have many athletes who are looking forward to the race like myself.

“We can challenge the Ethiopians and Kenyans, but they have an edge over us because they have higher altitude to train on.”

The Ethiopian duo of Gelata Ulfata and Dagne Siranesh emerged the overall winners of the 7th Edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon in the male and female categories.