Dubai: The next year's Dubai Marathon will be held on January 18 with more prize money," remarked Ahmad Al Kamali, the Race President to Gulf News.
"Our objective is to try and break the record. We came very close to break ing the record this year. Unfortunately it did not happen but I am happy with the timing we achieved today. We will do better next time," added Kamali.
"We could have broken the course record this time but in the last kilometer William Rotich was running alone and he knew that he was going to win the title.
"This realisation affected the pace as he was also sure that he will reach under 2: 10 for the bonus prize. This must have forced him to relax a bit," he said.
The prize money will be increased to $50,000 (Dh183, 500) for the winner and we will try and get the best athletes from around the world. We will also try and increase the prize to break the world record," said Kamali.
"Dubai Marathon has progressed over the years. It is evident from the increase in the number of participants. This time we had nearly 7000 people taking part in the events," he said.
Kamali revealed that nearly 85 per cent of the participants in the mara-thon have come from abroad. "This reveals that the new about Dubai Marathon is spread far and wide. People are willing to buy tickets, arrange for stay and participate.
"Having recorded a timing of 2:09 twice, Dubai Marathon will remain among the top ten in the world. We are almost on par with Berlin, Boston, Rotterdam and New York marathons," said Kamali.
"We are dealing with the Federick Roza, the best agent for runners in the world. He has the the best Ethiopian and Kenyan runners. He is also agent to world record holder Paul Tergat. So we will bring better athletes next time," he added.
Kamali also praised the new route. "All the runners were very happy with the new course. It is flat and there was only one sharp bend that too in the last one kilometer. Our course is among the best in the world," said Kamali, who thanked Dubai residents who came out in large number to encourage the runners.
