Abu Dhabi: Kenya’s Abraham Kiptum, who recently became the new world half marathon record holder following his win at Valencia Half Marathon, will be joining the list of elite athletes for the ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon to be held in the capital on December 7.
Kiptum, with a record time of 58:18, has also won the 2018 Daegu Marathon (2:06:29) and got his best performance at the 2017 Amsterdam Marathon completed with a time of 2:05:26.
Kenya’s Stanley Biwott, winner of the world-renowned 2015 New York City marathon, will be on the start line. Biwott earned his first major marathon victory in 2015, crossing the line in 2:10:32, 14 seconds ahead of his competition. At the 2016 London Marathon he ran a career best of 2:03:51 with his performance making him one of 10 men to run a sub 2 hours 4 minutes marathon.
Representing the ‘Elite Women’ and hailing from Ethiopia will be Gelete Burka, 10,000m silver medallist at the 2015 IAAF World Championships, World Champion at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and World Indoor Champion at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Eunice Chumba Chebichii of Bahrain, 10,000m silver medallist at this year’s Asian Games and 2015 Asian Athletics Championships, will join the fray. She is currently ranked as the 19th all-time best runner in half marathon history with a record time of 1:06:11, which she achieved during the Copenhagen Half Marathon in 2017.
“The UAE is proud to welcome elite athletes from across the globe to join us for the inaugural ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon. These athletes are at the top of their game and we hope it will inspire the wider community to take part in the different race categories.” said Aref Hamad Al Awani, General Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
The full line-up of word class runners will be announced at a press conference on December 6.
