In the days to come, December 7, 2019 to be precise, the streets and roads in Bonny Island will be bustling with activity as men and women showcase their racing skills in a frantic bid to grasp the highest prize for the Bonny Island Marathon (BIM) 2019 edition.

This year’s event is a consolidation on the maiden edition of last year which literarily shut down Bonny Island and Finima as over 1,500 participants crowded the roads and raced all 15 kilometres stretch of the race.

According to the organizers, this year’s edition will see phenomenal increase in participation from 1,500 last year to 5,000 this year. Same with the distance to be covered, which will now scale up to 20 kilometres from last year’s 15 kilometres covering major routes in Bonny Island and Finima.

This prizes, freebies, and other mouth-watering giveaways ae also being upscaled to leave awesome memories with the participants. 

The maiden edition which was highly competitive saw a lady, Blessing Edet, also known as ‘Iron Lady’, from Akwa Ibom State, emerging second runner-up with 115.33 minutes, behind Success Yakubu, from Kaduna State, who won the marathon with a record time of 83.06 minutes, and Onomodike David, from Delta State, first runner-up with 84.32 minutes.

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The organizers, comprising the chief executive officer (CEO) of Bonny Island Magazine, Boma Halliday, Favour Nwachukwu (Fachi Foods), and Prince Brown (Nepho Studio), promised an exciting event, describing it as “undoubtedly, the biggest sports, tourism, and entertainment event in Bonny Island, Rivers State”.

They disclosed that the 2019 edition with the official theme, “Racing for Unity” will have two classes of participants drawn from all over the country. These are Elite Runners or actual runners competing for various prizes; and Leisure Runners, participants running for fitness, enthusiasm or for fun.

According to the organizers, this year’s edition now has a new category, the “INDIGENOUS WINNER”, which “highlights and recognizes the first person from any of the 35 chieftaincy houses in Bonny Kingdom to complete the 20km Race.

The Bonny Island Marathon 2019 will kick-off from the Finima Stadium and end at the Bonny Youth Federation (BYF) Secretariat, King Asimini Bypass (Berger Road) in Bonny.

With the countdown to close of registration on November 25, 2019 on, interested participants are expected to register online by visiting bit.ly/Bimreg19 or scan the QR code on the poster. For manual registration, forms can obtained at any of the manual registration outlets in Bonny: Care Management Consulting, King Jaja Street; Printing Solution, Finima Roundabout; Cindy Beauty Art, Amaomu Junction, Mission Road by Court Road Junction; Cons Beauty, Beside Stadium, Finima; and Hair City, Akiama.

To assure safety during the marathon, security, medical and road safety personnel and ambulance and coaster buses will be on hand to handle all emergencies, all in a bid to eliminate or reduce any form of casualty at the event.

In the same vein, interested individuals undergo a “Fitness to Participate Test (FPT)” in Bonny Island and Port Harcourt, respectively, in order to ensure that they meet up the fitness requirements for the marathon.

This year’s marathon would feature a Fiesta, which would include games, music, raffle draws, comedy, and a relaxation hub, at the end of the race, for all participants, families, friends, children, and fun lovers.

The Fiesta kicks off at the BYF Secretariat, King Asimini Bypass (Berger Road), Bonny Island.