Aquafina, 7Up, and consortium of wellness partners mobilize strategic hydration support for 11th Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, transforming Africa’s premier road race into showcase for sports nutrition innovation
When more than 20,000 runners navigate the 42-kilometer journey from ORCA Mall to Eko Atlantic City tomorrow morning, their success will depend on more than training and determination. In what has become one of Africa’s most sophisticated hydration operations, a coalition of beverage brands led by Aquafina, 7Up, and complementary wellness partners are positioning strategic hydration as the defining factor between crossing the finish line and succumbing to Lagos’s challenging climate.
Seven-Up Bottling Company’s Aquafina water brand takes centre stage at tomorrow’s 11th Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, leading the company’s activation under the “Run am with your Padi” campaign theme. Since the marathon’s launch in 2016, the bottling giant has maintained consistent presence, evolving from simple product placement to comprehensive hydration strategy that positions Aquafina as the dependable companion every runner needs when conditions get tough. Official hydration points provided by Aquafina are positioned at 2.5-kilometer intervals throughout the course, creating a critical lifeline for participants navigating one of Africa’s most demanding urban marathons.
Yet Aquafina doesn’t shoulder the hydration responsibility alone. The 2026 edition enjoys support from an impressive consortium of beverage and wellness brands, including 7Up, also from Seven-Up Bottling Company’s portfolio, alongside headline sponsor Access Bank, the Lagos State Government, and a growing roster of partners that includes Kia Motors, Power Oil, Brila FM, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Unilever’s wellness portfolio featuring Joy, Rexona, and Robb, plus Greenlife Pharmaceuticals’ Salonpas and Morning Fresh. This breadth of corporate alignment reflects the marathon’s evolution into one of the continent’s most powerful sports marketing platforms, where brand promises face real-world testing under the most demanding circumstances imaginable.
The commercial logic is straightforward: marathons create captive audiences who are actively consuming beverages and demonstrably care about health, wellness, and performance. With approximately $500,000 in prize money available and the race’s prestigious World Athletics Gold Label status attracting elite athletes from across Africa and beyond, the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has become one of the continent’s most watched sporting events. For beverage brands, that translates into millions of impressions, authentic product trials, and association with positive lifestyle values that traditional advertising cannot manufacture. According to recent reports, brands are actively jostling for marathon association, drawn by proven credibility, massive reach, and consistency that positions the event as trusted territory for corporate partnerships.
The strategic importance of proper hydration cannot be overstated. Marathon runners face complex physiological challenges that simple water consumption alone cannot address. The delicate balance between dehydration and hyponatremia, a potentially dangerous condition caused by excessive water intake without adequate electrolyte replacement, requires careful planning that beverage brands are increasingly helping runners navigate. Research demonstrates that slower runners tend to drink more frequently at every aid station, while faster runners strategically space hydration, often preferring water with added electrolytes to maintain performance without gastrointestinal distress. This scientific reality has created opportunities for brands to position themselves not merely as refreshment providers, but as partners in athletic achievement and runner safety.
Beyond elite competition, the marathon has catalyzed a grassroots wellness movement fundamentally changing Lagos’s relationship with fitness. Thousands of Lagosians who began training for previous editions have maintained those habits year-round, creating sustained demand for sports nutrition products, hydration solutions, and wellness services that barely existed a decade ago. For beverage companies and wellness brands, this represents not just event-day marketing, but access to an emerging consumer segment that values functional benefits over simple refreshment, exactly the demographic that brands like Aquafina, 7Up, and Unilever’s wellness portfolio target with precision.
The race itself promises to be spectacular. Tomorrow’s course starts at ORCA Mall on Ahmadu Bello Way, runs through sections of the ambitious Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, and finishes at Eko Atlantic City, a route showcasing Lagos’s rapid urban transformation. The Lagos State Government has announced comprehensive traffic diversions affecting Victoria Island and Lekki from midnight to 12:30 PM, transforming the city into a massive outdoor arena where brands can engage audiences in ways that feel organic rather than intrusive.
Organized by Nilayo Sports Management Limited, the 2026 marathon marks what Managing Director Yetunde Olopade calls “a landmark occasion”, the beginning of another decade of excellence built on expansion, endurance, and elevated ambition. The race welcomed participants from 42 African nations in 2025 and aims to expand that continental representation in 2026, creating a truly pan-African celebration of athleticism.
For everyday runners balancing careers, families, and training schedules, the marathon represents something deeply personal. These are the stories that give the event emotional resonance, ordinary Lagosians who’ve committed months to preparation, learning along the way about nutrition, pacing, and the critical importance of proper hydration. Many discovered through trial and error what sports scientists have long known: that strategic beverage consumption can mean the difference between achieving a personal best and abandoning the race entirely.
Race organizers have emphasized that participants should rely only on official hydration points for safety, with medical aid posts positioned 20 to 50 meters past main drink stations and at the finish line. This directive underscores both the responsibility that comes with marathon organization and the trust placed in brands like Aquafina and 7Up to deliver when it matters most. When a runner grabs a bottle at kilometer 30, exhausted but determined, that’s not just a transaction, it’s a moment of genuine need meeting reliable solution, the kind of brand experience that builds loyalty more effectively than any advertising campaign.
As race morning approaches, the convergence of athletic achievement, urban celebration, and commercial opportunity reaches its peak. Tomorrow, when the starting gun fires, thousands of personal journeys begin—some chasing podium finishes and prize money, others simply aiming to cross the finish line upright. But they’ll all share one common need: staying hydrated in a city that never stops moving, supported by brands that understand that in marathon running, as in life, having your “padi” can make all the difference.
For real-time updates on the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, visit lagoscitymarathon.com or follow @lagoscitymarathon on Instagram.
