Dubai: Zsofia Erdelyi of Hungary and Elena Korobkina of Russia won the 10km and 5km races at the Fourth Dubai Women’s Run 2013, which took place from Meydan Racecourse on Friday.
Erdelyi, who is preparing for the Houston Marathon early next year, was timed at 33 minutes, 15 seconds ahead of Kalayu Yeshi Chekole of Ethiopia and Gladys Jemaiyo of Kenya in the 10km run.
Korobkina, who came 12th in the 1,500m at the recent IAAF World Championships in Moscow, finished the 5km race in a time of 16 minutes, 12 seconds ahead of the Ethiopian pair of Hiwot Gebrekidan and Mihret Adhena Tefera.
Ahmad Al Kamali, IAAF Council Member and President, UAE Athletics Federation (UAE AF), presented the cash awards and trophies to the winners along with Fadhel Al Ali of Dubai Holding, Shaikh Qaed Al Qasimi from sponsors KSC and Hessa Al Kous from the Dubai Sports Council (DSC).
“This has been a fantastic race for me. It’s one of my favourites as I was placed third here last year. But this year is special and it’s a great feeling to go away with the top prize,” 10km run winner Erdelyi told Gulf News.
“The pace in the early stages was not to my liking, and that is how I lagged behind a bit. But once we had crossed the seven-km mark I knew I had to do something special,” she added.
That burst in the final three kilometres saw the Hungarian overtake her Kenyan and Ethiopian opponents and cruise past the finish line. “This race was part of my preparations for the Houston Marathon [in January 2014] and I wanted to see how my legs were holding up after such intensive training,” she added.
Korobkina, who actually specialises in middle-distance track running, was pleased with the way she paced herself. After finishing 12th in the 1,500 metres in this summer’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow, the Russian has now decided to concentrate on the 3,000 metres. “I think the 3,000 metres is more challenging and this race will definitely help me to achieve my goals,” she said.
Both winners received cash awards of Dh10,000 each along with their trophy, while the second and third-place finishers took home Dh7,000 and Dh5,000 respectively.
“The most satisfying element for us this year is the low cost of this race due to the generosity of our sponsors. Our dream now will be to have a title sponsor for this race so that we can achieve our target of 10,000 runners in the near future,” Al Kamali said.
