Maiden Eastern Marathon Headlines 2025 LYF Festival

Accra: Strategic Plus, in partnership with LYF Arena and the National Sports Authority, has officially launched the 2025 LYF Festival, aimed at promoting health and wellness nationwide. This year's festival, fixed for August 30, 2025, introduces the first-ever Eastern Marathon featuring a 10km race, a 5km race, and other top categories. The race route will start from Ayimensah and lead directly to the Aburi Botanical Gardens, with hundreds of participants expected to also grace the one-day event.According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Hubert Leo Mensah, Acting Head of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the National Sports Authority, expressed his enthusiasm for partnering with the organizers to advance Ghana's sports ecosystem and promote holistic wellness. He emphasized that health plays a central role in Ghana's development agenda, making it essential to lead such a campaign. "It comes as good news for the National Sports Authority to support such a great venture to the point where we can use this means t o promote tourism. In the past few months, the Authority has been putting in efforts to promote tourism through sports," he said. Mr. Mensah extended heartfelt appreciation to Strategic Plus and LYF Arena for their collaboration in bringing up such a meaningful initiative.Mr. Nana Essel, a representative of LYF Arena, stated that the event, which began in 2023, has experienced remarkable growth and is now regarded as Ghana's premier wellness and fitness event. He explained that multiple categories have been introduced by the organizers to accommodate participants of all backgrounds and abilities. He added that alongside the races, participants will enjoy free wellness education, yoga, health screenings, and expert health talks. "We are honoured to have the backing of esteemed institutional partners including the office of the Okuapehene, NSA, Ghana Athletics, among others who have expressed strong interest in strategic collaboration," he said.Nana Kwesi Osew, Okuapehene Sompahene, noted that the Okuapeman Traditional Council has backed the LYF Festival in recent years, recognizing its benefits to surrounding communities. "I am happy that the health walk is now progressing into a marathon and with the cool weather, this is going to be big," he said. He urged Ghanaians to participate in this year's festival, emphasizing its role in promoting physical well-being and offering a chance to experience the rich traditions of Okuapeman.