Next year's event to be held on January 23

Dubai: The Dubai Marathon next year will be held on January 23, Ahmad Al Kamali, the General Coordinator of the Dubai Marathon told Gulf News.

"We will permit more runners to take part next year. We have realised that over 10,000 more can run in the Dubai marathon. This year we had closed the registration by December 31, fearing that the area may not be able to support more runners.," said Kamali.

"The second fastest timing in the history of marathon will make Dubai the No 1 marathon among the city marathons in the world. This year we had an 18 per cent increase in the number of participants. We will make the Dubai Marathon even stronger next year."

Fadel Al Ali, the executive chairman of the Dubai Holding, which had offered a bonus of $1 million for the runner who breaks the world record, said: "We want it to happen in Dubai and so the offer of $1 million stands for next year too."

Over 1000 employees from Dubai Holding participated in the 10km race.