Long distance specialist William Amponsah claimed his first marathon victory in 2019 by breaking his own record at the Ghana First(GF) Athletics Championship in 33:15 seconds.

The 20-year old  burst clear of main contenders Ishmael Arthur and Salifu Seidu with an amazing run, which saw the youngster almost effortlessly broke his own time of 34:22 seconds he set last year.

Amponsah, competing in his third race of the year, stun the Legon crowd as he produced a promising and gutsy performance to clinch his third consecutive win of the 10th edition of the GF Sports 12km cross-country just as he prepares for the 2019 Boston Marathon.


Ishmael Arthur came second with 34:22 seconds followed by Salifu Seidu, who clocked 36:40 seconds to place third.

He is running at this year’s Boston Marathon and any hopes his main rivals, Ishmael Arthur and Salifu Seidu, might have had of beating him, were swiftly dismantled, as the ECOWAS U-20 Athletics champion simply blew the competition out of the water.


He was quickly out of the blocks to leave the other competitors behind, intent on making yet more sporting history in the April 15 marathon.

“Not only am i happy that i have won this competition for the third successive time, but also because l have broken my own record the record i set last year, he said.

“I am now training intensively for the Boston marathon which is scheduled for April.”

Amponsah in 2017 became a sensation in the 7th edition of GF championship when he finished in a time of 34:30 seconds to shave 1 second off a record set by  William Akuka in 2016.

 


He had entered the GF Championship as the winner of the maiden Asante Akyem Marathon, where he finished a 20km race with a time of 1hour, 12 minutes.

He suffered a setback as his career got blighted with injuries in the major part of 2018, which forced him to withdraw from the 2nd edition of the very Marathon that brought him to limelight.

He came back strong to win the 5,000m race of the 2018 edition of the maiden  ECOWAS Athletic Championships but found himself in another injury trouble, which ruled him off till January this year.

The former graduate of Swedru Business School has since returned and competed in the 2019 editions of the Mini Gusa games and the National cross-country in February, where he finished third and second respectively.

He is Ghana’s candidate for 123rd Boston Marathon following his sensational performance at the 2018 Dubai Marathon

The long distance specialist will make his Boston debut as he  races against other 29,000 world-class internationals in a bid to make name for himself and country.