Ghanaian long distance giants, David Zigah and Millicent Boadi, face a big test on home soil from some elite African runners on Sunday when nearly 5,000 long distance runners hit the road in the nation's capital for the African Unity Milo Marathon race.

Dominant forces in the popular Accra Milo marathon, the two athletes face a challenge of their lives as 20 runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Morocco and Zimbabwe seek to deny the Ghanaians glory in a familiar territory in the lucrative and historic Pan African marathon race that will be witnessed by visiting African Heads of State who will be in Accra for the African Union Summit.

Co-sponsor, State Insurance Company (SIC), will provide $200,000 insurance cover for the foreign athletes who are due in the country by Thursday on board Kenya Airways, one of the co-sponsors of the event.

According to the organisers, Zigah, Boadi and other past winners of the Accra Milo Marathon like Godwin Adukpo have all registered to participate in Sunday's big race.

There is so much at stake in what could be, perhaps, the toughest 42.2km race ever staged in Accra, with $10,000 up for grabs by the overall winner and $5,000 prize money for the female champion.

Zigah is a five-time champion of the Accra Milo Marathon while Boadi is a four-time female champion with international experience, having competed in the Amsterdam Marathon and other such events in Asia at different times.

The Graphic Sports has gathered that given the threat expected from the foreign athletes, the two Ghanaian runners have stepped up their training in a bid to put their best foot forward on Sunday.

The Pan African event, dubbed 'Run for African Unity', seeks to give practical meaning to African integration, one of the key issues to be discussed at the AU Summit in Accra.

It will be the first time that the Milo sponsored marathon will take place on a Sunday, a break from its traditional Saturday morning ritual, but the date is even more significant as it falls on Ghana's 47th Republican Day as well as coincides with the AU summit.

The uniqueness of the African Unity Milo Marathon is also evident in the composition of the organising committee and the route changes for both the 42.2km mass sport race and the I5km mini-marathon for the estimated 2,000 school children with $500 at stake for the boys' and girls' winners.

On Sunday, the EI-Wak Stadium and the Dansoman Keep Fit Club grounds, the traditional finishing point, become the starting points for the Under-I5 mini-marathon and the mass sport events respectively.

The Independence Square at Osu will be the finishing point and venue for the presentation ceremony to be witnessed by some African political leaders and AU Chairman, President J.A. Kufuor.

Source: Graphic Sports