16-Year-Old Wins Street Child Marathon
Aaron Parker John T. Bangura, a 16-year-old promising athlete from Sierra Leone, has won the full marathon category of the Street Child Marathon Sierra Leone’s tenth edition held in Makeni on April 29, 2023.
He emerged as the first to finish the 26-kilometer event, beating numerous local and international runners, including Jose Ord Hume, who has participated in a total of 175 marathons globally and all ten editions in Sierra Leone.
John T. Bangura is a Senior Secondary School pupil at the Sierra Leone Muslim Brotherhood (SSS3) in Makeni. He joined Papaya’s Athletics Camp after Coach Alpha Kamara scouted him following his excellent performance in their annual school sports meet.
He wore race number 40 and completed the event in 2 hours and 30 minutes.
According to to NewsFeed Sierra Leone, John T. Bangura expressed his delight in winning the full marathon, his first-ever participation in such an event.
He plans to represent Sierra Leone in major international events and bring more honor to the country. Street Child Sierra Leone awarded him with NLe 2,000, while one of the event’s sponsors, Premium Divine Trading, provided him with another package.
John T. Bangura encouraged his colleagues to participate in future events, believing that they too can showcase their talents and succeed.