Dubai: It will take a marathon effort from many departments of local government to prepare for next weekend’s Dubai Marathon.
With more than 30,000 runners expected to take part, an army of police, RTA, municipality and medical staff will be ready to keep the 42-km event, which starts and finishes on Umm Suqeim Road on January 26, safe and trouble-free.
“Dubai has become adept at staging world championships and world-class occasions but the sheer scale of the marathon makes this a real challenge,” said event director Peter Connerton.
“This is why we appreciate the cooperation we receive from many government bodies — we have developed a tried and trusted relationship with them and enjoy coming together in the weeks before the big day to finalise all our plans and take a close look at the route and where we need to place special emphasis in terms of safety and security.
“With the support of the Dubai Sports Council, we work closely with Dubai’s Police’s Protection and Security, CID and Traffic Departments. It really is a collective effort and thanks to the Dubai Police, Dubai Ambulance Service, the RTA, Dubai Municipality and the Dubai Health Authority we are able to come together with all our volunteers to make it make it a smooth and successful event for every race category.”
With more than a week to go until the big day that sees Tamirat Tola, Aselefech Mergia and Worknesh Degefa chase the men and women’s winner’s cheques for $200,000, the organisers will sit down with representatives from the Dubai Government departments on Thursday to go over the race routes for the marathon, the 10-km Road Race and the 4km Fun Run.
As usual, police will be on hand to ensure the roads are clear and that every runner, no matter what event they are competing in, will be unaffected by traffic, while they will also be present at the start/finish line to give the elite athletes a clear run and what could be well be another course record time.
Runners can still register via www.dubaimarathon.org
