Five times Accra Milo Marathon winner, David Zigah has announced his retirement from the marathon.

The celebrated marathoner now wants to focus on training and nurturing young talents to become champions.

Zigah revealed this at the launch of the 28th edition of the Marathon in Accra on Friday.

He stated that after dominating and making history in the marathon as the only person to have won the event five times,it is important to give the mantle to others.

“I am not leaving the sport entirely but ready to assist any athlete to excel while I take up other challenges in coaching and mentoring younger ones”, he stated.

This year’s event is scheduled for Monday, September 21 and expected to have about 10,000 runners participating in the event to be held in three categories.

The event is dubbed “Every Champion Starts By Taking a First Step”.

There would be the Under 15 event for 2000 school children which covers a distance of 15 kilometers. There will also be the five kilometers fun race involving U-15 children, parents and corporate bodies and the 42.2km Mass Sports for adults both male and female.

This year’s Mass Sports winner (both male and female) would receive Ghc15,000; first runner-up would get Ghc5,000 while the second runner-up walks away with Ghc3,000.

For the U-15 event, the winner would walk home with Ghc5,000, while second and third positions would receive Ghc2,000 and Ghc1,000 respectively.

With the fun run, every participant that crosses the finish line will walk home with a pair of shoes.

According to the organizers, a total of Ghc200,000 has been invested into the event to ensure its success.

Launching the event, Ag. Director of the Ghana Education Service, Stephen Adu praised Nestle Ghana for providing the platform for different sporting talents across the country to develop their talents.