Dubai: The best marathon runners from around the world have converged to take part in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon tomorrow (Friday) with three-time Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele leading the field.
The marathon will get underway at 7am on the Umm Suqeim Road from near Madinat Jumeirah overlooking the iconic Burj Al Arab. The 10km road race, which has become very popular with huge increase in participation, will commence from 7.15am and the 4km Fun Run in which families run as a group will start at 11am.
With the weather looking ideal for runners to give their best and extremely talented names in the line-up, the course record in both men and women’s marathon are within sight. Ethiopia’s Ayele Abshero’s timing of 2:04:23 in 2012 is the best, while in women’s marathon Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia’s 2:19:31, which was also set in 2012, is the best timing.
This year, 21 runners with personal bests of under 2:10:00 will be on the starting line.
Speaking at a pre-event press conference at the Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel that was attended by top runners, sponsors and Dubai Sports Council officials, Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council said: “Dubai Marathon is one of the biggest sporting events of UAE and it is an event which has made a name for Dubai. It has also played a huge role in making this a city of sports and the capital of sports.”
The popularity of the event has attracted huge sponsorship and everyone associated with it has continued to come back to support the event. Ahmad Al Kamali, president of the UAE Athletic Federation and General Coordinator of the Dubai Marathon, said: “Standard Chartered Bank will be our title sponsors for the 11th year, Dubai Holding has been supporting us for the ninth consecutive year and Adidas has backed us for the last five years. It is not just sponsors, but also the top runners who are keen to participate. We have champions from all the top marathons around the world here.”
Peter Connerton, event director, revealed the race will be viewed by millions around the world. “This year’s race will be beamed live to a global audience of millions thanks to our agreement with Dubai Sports Channel, our host broadcaster, and IEC in Sports, who will provide international distribution, satellite transmission and enhanced production services,” he said.
Mohsin Nathani, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank talked about the impact of Dubai Marathon. “We sponsor nine marathons around the world and Dubai Marathon is very important for us. This marathon has brought not only international athletes to compete but also involved people from all walks of life to run for a reason.”
The million dollar question on the eve of Friday’s event is whether Ethiopia, which has been dominating for the last few years, can be toppled and a champion from some other nation emerges. The man with the best time in the field is Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa, who won the Dubai title on his debut in 2013 in 2:04:45. The women’s field is equally strong with Dubai course record holder Ethiopia’s Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia who ran 2:19:31 for victory in 2012.
