Eric Mbacha Mangeh, a three-time champion of Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, emerged winner of the 2023 Helsinki Marathon in Finland for the fourth consecutive time.
He finished the 42-kilometre marathon in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 14 seconds on Saturday, May 13.
Based on official statistics, he ran the race at the speed of 3:28 minutes per kilometre.
Mbacha has won the Helsinki Marathon since 2019, after he reportedly fled Cameroon to Finland, following Ambazonia separatists’ threats against him for participating at the 2019 Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, which he won.
The celebrated athlete won the Mount Cameroon Race in 2011, 2014 and 2019.
His victories in Helsinki have been thanks to his rigorous trainings based on his mantra, “No pain, no gain”.
The 39-year-old native of Nkambe, in Cameroon’s Northwest Region, lives in Turku, a city on the southwest coast of Finland, with his family.
