Transform 9ja youths lives through running.

Who am I?

My name is Princeton Akpojaro. I am a 55-year-old British-born Nigerian, living and working in London. I am a passionate long-distance runner, and I pride myself on being one of only a few Nigerian offspring that has ran over 60 international marathons and counting. I want to use my experience of running and organising running events as a vehicle to help youths through the sport of long distance running in Nigeria, and I am asking you to support me through this campaign.

Although born in London, I grew up in Nigeria between the age of 3 and 18 years old, in what used to be Bendel State of Nigeria.

My long-distance running hobby began in the UK when I joined Royal Marines Reserves in London around 1994. My training with the Royal Marines and the fitness I gained from that military training gave me the courage to tackle my first Marathon in 1998, which I ran in 3 hours 38 minutes.

I have been running regularly since about 2005, and over the years I have been fortunate enough to combine my love of running with my love of travelling and I have ran in over 60 world class marathons. I've ran the London Marathon a dozen times, as well as marathons in New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Venice, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Florence, Prague, Copenhagen, Liverpool, Toronto, Moscow and Shanghai - many of these multiple times.

From my observation, the vast majority of these marathons are won by young East African men and women; Kenyans, Ethiopians and Moroccans. As far as I am aware, there are no known long distance runners operating on the international stage from Nigeria, or other West African countries. How is it possible that the most populous African nation on Earth is not able to produce such high level long-distance runners?

East Africans have grown up with long distance race runners and winners amongst their communities. They have seen some of their own win marathons all over the world and return home with huge cash prizes that have enabled them to transform their lives and that of their communities through the sport of long-distance running. The same can be said of Football in Nigeria - many Nigerians grow up wanting to emulate the Nigerian-born football stars they see playing all over the world.

Role models have a huge influence - more so than pure natural-born talent.

My ambition is to build a long distance running culture in Nigeria; to create role models within my community, and to ultimately grow this into something large with a wide level of respect and influence. I believe l can achieve this through encouraging and creating the environment within secondary schools levels, and starting with shorter road races and then growing this until it can eventually become a full, mass-participation marathon.

What have I done so far?

So far I have organised and sponsored 5 separate events.In February 2019, I staged and the first Urhobo Secondary Schools 10k Road Race in Ughelli. Just under 400 students ran the race, and the winning top 3 male and female students won prize money for themselves and their schools. Every participant received a medal, and a goody bag The event was a resounding success, with massive local interest and an electric, atmosphere in the stadium.
I built on my success in February 2020 with the second event, expanding with a second race in Asaba - the capital of Delta State. We had nearly 700 participants in Ughelli and just under 200 in Asaba. State capital roads were close for the first time ver for a youth event.

I missed 2021 due to Covid, but in 2022 I returned for the third event in Delta State and the second in Asaba - and I also staged our first adult race.

Why am I crowdfunding?

I have been running these events so far with little to no help financially, and I am no longer able to fund it alone. For 2023, I intend to stage races in Ughelli and Asaba once again, and need some financial support to put on the events.

I have so far funded the medals, t-shirts and goody bags. The money raised here will go towards prizes to first, second and third to first male and female to cross the finish lines, as well buying fruits, drinks and snacks that would go every participate who completes the races.

What will be the community impact?

The winners of my previous events have gone one to be local heroes in their own right, taking steps towards becoming the high profile figures/role models that I want to create. Within the community, the money they have won for their schools has gone to fund further investments in sports programmes, such as purchasing t-shirts for the teams.
My belief is that with a larger investment, I can build on the success I've experienced so far and continue to develop the long-distance running culture in Nigeria, with the ultimate aspiration of creating high performing athletes that can lift themselves and their communities to the international stage.

How can you help?

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!