2023 Okpekpe race champions ready to battle for medals in Budapest

Daniel Simiu Ebenyo and Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui, the 2023 Okpekpe international 10km road race champions will be seeking to replicate their record-breaking feats at the World Athletics Championships, which starts this weekend in Budapest, Hungary.

Both Ebenyo and Kipkirui broke the men and women’s course record at the gold label race in Okpekpe at the end of May.

The duo will be competing in Budapest after securing qualification to the World Athletics flagship event and are rearing to extend their dominance in the long distance events from Okpekpe to the world stage.

While Ebenyo will be running in the 10,000m event for Kenya, Kipkirui will compete in the 5,000m and 10000m races for Kazakhstan.

Ebenyo told organisers of the historic Okpekpe race he is going to Budapest with the confidence that he has the support of not just Kenyans but also Nigerians, especially the good people of Okpekpe town and in its environs who cheered him on to set a new 28:28 course record in May.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to know that I am surrounded and recognised by such caring and thoughtful people. Your messages and encouragement brought smiles, laughter, and joy to my heart, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate the win.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for wishing me all the best in the upcoming World Championships. I am very much excited and inspired to compete in Budapest,” wrote Ebenyo in a message to the Okpekpe race organisers.

Dare Esan, the media and activation director for the Okpekpe race, says organisers of the first World Athletics label race in West Africa have always been following the progress of all participants in the race.

“We celebrated Leule Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian who won the men’s race in 2017 and moved up to the full marathon to place second at the Dubai international marathon in Dubai the following January,” said Esan.

Sunnewsonline.com