North West athletes continue to dominate the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, as Godlove Gabsibuin Bobuin and Tatah Carine, all from the North West Region were crowned champions in the male and female categories respectively.
The 25th edition of the race which took place on Saturday, February 22, 2020, saw 500 athletes take part in the race. Prior to the race, there were some 550 athletes who registered but some 50 were disqualified on race day due to health concerns.
Godlove Gabsibuin won the race in 4hrs, 35mins, 50sec to reach the finish line, ahead of former champion Ndungeh Simplice 4hrs, 37mins, 56sec, and Elvis Nsabinla 4hrs, 42mins, 10sec.
Godlove Gabsibuin, recorded his fifth victory in the competition, becoming the most successful male athlete of the race, surpassing the great Tata Thomas who is on four victories. Gabsibuin won in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, and now 2020.
Speaking to the press, Gabsibuin said: “to win the race is just for you to watch your speed. It is not like you are running 100 km. I am an elder person in the field, and I know how to watch my speed.”
The race this year unfortunately saw the non-participation of defending champion, Mbatcha Eric. Eric who is in Finland posted a message saying he would not be participating in the race due to threats on his life and family.
22-year-old Tatah Carine has recorded three victories in a row in the race after she won it in 2018, 2019, and now 2020. She won the race in 5hrs, 25mins 14 seconds ahead of Kita Mildred, who came in 5hrs, 04mins, and Wingo Kpuufanla in third position (5hrs, 51mins 37 seconds.)
Tatah Carine is seen by many as a serious contender to challenge the records of Serah Etonde and Ngwaya Yvonne .She however has a long way to go to be crowned as the best female athlete to ever run the race.
Serah Etonde and Ngwaya Yvonne both sit at four successive victories, with Tatah Carine now on three victories. Should she succeed in winning the race in 2021, she will be tied with the greats and looking to overtake them in consecutive victories.
Serah Etonde’s “Queen of the Mountain” title still stands
For several years now Serah Liengu Etonde’s title has been threatened by Ngwaya Yvonne. The two women are the most successful athletes in the competition, and in the female category both are on seven victories.
While Serah Etonde has retired from the race, Ngwaya Yvonne is still going strong, though the past three years have not seen her victorious. Last year, Ngwaya Yvonne finished on the third position but this year, she was placed fourth.
“I am not afraid that my record will be beaten,” Serah Etonde told SUN Sports in a chat. “I am not going to compare myself with young children. I am a mother who gave birth to several children, and the others are still very young.”
Buea, SW glory departed?
Since Serah Etonde last won in 2005 in the female category and Tata Thomas (1992, 1996, and 1998) in the male category, no athlete from Buea or the Fako Division has ever been successful in clinching the title.
Lyonga Samuel Esombe has come close to breaking that hurdle with a third place finish. This year he could only come in 9th position.
Serah Etonde said she is surprised that no one from this Division has been able to do that. She said: “Discipline is a key to success. You can educate people on the race, tell them what to do to prepare but you cannot run for them or know what is in their mind. We hope that something will be done in that light.”
Innovation
One of the innovations for this year was the introduction of prize money FCFA 500,000 for the first athletes in both categories to reach the summit. Godlove Gabsibuin of Cameroon and Flavious Teresa of Kenya both scooped the prize money.
Foreigners still having a hard time
Since Mike Short from Great Britain (1984 and 1985), Rev Stifter Walter from Italy (1976, 1977, and 1978) in the male category, Diamentides Helen from Great Britain (1988), Rueda Fabiola from Argentina (1989), and Smith Sally Gold from Great Britain (1990), no foreign athlete has ever come close to the podium.
The foreign athletes’ hurdle has always been that of descending the mountain. Things appeared to be coming into place for them as the years go by. The first athlete to reach the summit in the female category was Kwamboka Flavious Teresa from Kenya. Unfortunately for her, descending was an issue as she could only finish fourth.
In the male category, Charles Kipkorir Kipsang from Kenya finished in the 6th position. “The race is a grueling one, more difficult than other races in Africa,” Kipkorir Kipsang told SUN Sports.
“What is an issue for me is the issue of descending the mountain. Hopefully in the next years, we Kenyans will be able to do better in the race.”
The first person in the male and female categories received FCFA10 million and a trophy, second person received FCFA 7 million and a trophy and third person FCFA 5 million.
Gabsibuin and Flavious won the CAMTEL Prize of FCFA 500,000 for reaching the summit the first in the male and female categories respectively.