The total prize money for the 6^th Obudu Mountain Race has been increased.  This has become necessary with the introduction this year of the women version of the African Nation’s Mountain Running Championship.

The total prize money has gone up from $245,500 to $278,000.  The prize money for the 1^st – 10^th position for the 6^th Obudu Mountain Race however remain the same, graduated from $50,000, $20,000 and $9,000 respectively for 1^st – 3^rd positions.  The prizes for 4^th -10^th remain at $4,500, $4,000, $3,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively.

According to William Archibong, the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, “the increase in the total figure is necessitated by the addition this year of the female team version of the African Nation’s Mountain Running Championship.  The prize money for this event is also the same for both the men and women”.

The African Championship draws a prize money of $15,000 for 1^st team position, $10,000 for 2^nd and $7,500 for 3^rd for both men and women.

The prize monies for best Nigerian finishers (Male/Female) and Media Race (Male/Female) still remain the same at $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively.

The prize monies of the Children’s race remain unchanged at N100,000, N80,000 and N50,000 for both boys and girls.  It further spreads to 10^th position as is applicable to the senior race.  Therefore 4^th prize is N20,000, 5^th prize N10,000, 6^th prize N9,000, and 7^th prize N8,000.  Others are N7,000 for 8^th position, N6,000 for 9^th position and N5,000 for 10^th position, totaling N590,000 prize money for the Children’s novelty race.

The Obudu Mountain Race, organized by the Cross River State Government, in conjunction with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), enjoys tremendous support from the African Athletics Federation (CAA), the World Mountain Running Association, (WMRA) and the International Athletics Federation (IAAF).  It covers a distance of 11 kilometres uphill to an altitude of 1,575 metres above sea level, taking you to one of the finest tourist destinations in the world, the Obudu Mountain Resort.

This year’s race has been confirmed for the last week of November, featuring activities like, Doping in Sports Seminar, Media Race, Children’s Race, and a Gala Night/Fireworks.  The main race will flag-off alongside the African Championship at 8.00 a.m on Saturday 27^th November, 2010.

The defending champions for both male and female, Ethiopians, Habtamu Fikadu Awash and Mamitu Daska will be on hand to defend their titles among a very strong international field.