Kenyan long-distance runner Ezra Kipchumba Kering won the men’s race at the 11th edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon on Saturday, February 14, 2026, after finishing the 42-kilometre course in 2:11:55 in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
The annual road race, held in Lagos State in south-western Nigeria, was flagged off at 6:30 in the morning West African Time (WAT, GMT+1). Organisers said the route began at Orca Shopping Mall on Ahmadu Bello Way, near Eko Atlantic City, and ended at Eko Atlantic in Victoria Island, a major business district in Lagos.
Access Bank, the event’s sponsor, said in a statement that Kering “delivered a masterclass in focus and endurance,” but added that he did not break the fastest officially recorded marathon time of 2:00:35, which the bank attributed to “Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.” Okay News reports that the Lagos event drew elite international runners alongside Nigerian athletes competing for separate local prizes.
Among Nigerian runners in the men’s category, Boyi Nyango was the first to cross the finish line, posting a time of 2:25:32. The organisers celebrated his outing with a brief message in Nigerian Pidgin, saying, “Naija no dey carry last,” a popular expression that roughly means Nigeria does not come last.
In the women’s race, Ethiopian runner Meseret Dinke finished first in 2:37:36. Access Bank described her performance by saying, “A seasoned champion, she adds another medal to her collection today.”
Organisers said the result extended a notable run in the women’s category, marking the sixth consecutive edition in which an Ethiopian woman won the Lagos marathon. Dinke previously won the race in 2019 with 2:48:02 and again in 2021 with 2:28:51. Other recent Ethiopian winners listed by the organisers include Guta Meseret Hirpa (2025, 2:37:04), Kebene Chala (2024, 2:43:32), Almenesh Herpa (2023, 2:40:42), and Siranesh Yirga (2022, 2:33:54).
In Nigeria’s women’s field, Deborah Badung was announced as the first Nigerian woman to finish this year’s marathon, completing the course in 2:55:46. Access Bank praised her effort with the words, “Lagos, stand up. Our queen is home.”
Access Bank also restated its prize structure for elite athletes. It said the top eight finishers in the men’s and women’s elite categories would earn $50,000 for first place, $20,000 for second, $15,000 for third, $12,000 for fourth, $10,000 for fifth, $8,000 for sixth, $6,000 for seventh, and $4,000 for eighth.
For Nigerian elite athletes, the bank said the first finisher would receive Nigerian naira (₦) ₦2,000,000 (about $1,470), second ₦1,500,000 (about $1,110), third ₦1,000,000 (about $740), fourth ₦500,000 (about $370), fifth ₦200,000 (about $150), sixth ₦100,000 (about $74), while seventh through 10th would receive ₦50,000 each (about $37), using an exchange rate of roughly ₦1,356.7 to $1.
Organisers added that a separate 10-kilometre race was still ongoing as of Saturday morning, with a 9:30 in the morning WAT flag-off. They said it started at Grace Garden Event Centre in Lekki, a coastal area of Lagos, and ends at Eko Atlantic in Victoria Island.
