Today, marathon enthusiasts will turn their attention to Dubai, when the time is six o'clock in the morning with the launch of the 21st edition of the "Standard Chartered Dubai" international marathon, which is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, with the participation of More than 30,000 contestants, citizens and residents, and from outside the UAE, as well as some of the most prominent runners in the world, who are competing for the $ 100,000 prize for the champion, both men and women.
The focus will be on the main race for a distance of 42: 195 km, as well as the 10 km race, then the family race for a distance of four km, in addition to a race dedicated to people of determination.
The Dubai Marathon has become bigger and more important, year after year, as it relies on many government institutions to help organize a world-class sporting event, organized by the Dubai Sports Council.
This year, the event witnesses an increase in the number of citizens participating, in response to the initiative launched by "Dubai Holding", under the slogan "Madinati Sebaqi". The initiative aims to attract large numbers of Emiratis to participate in the 10 km and 42 km races and the wheelchair race for people of determination, in order to compete for prizes totaling 86 thousand dirhams, which will be distributed to the first three winners of men and women in the three categories.
It is noteworthy that the marathon is ranked gold by the International Athletics Federation, as it exceeded in the past versions the barrier of 250,000 runners representing 150 nationalities.
Kenyan Arik Keptanoe will be on a very difficult mission to stop the clear domination of Ethiopian runners in the past years, as he marries the Dubai Marathon in his first appearance, after he succeeded in being the fastest runner in the half-marathon race in the world.
Ethiopia is running the best marathon runners, led by Solomon Dixica, the fastest athlete in the starting line, and has many world titles, most notably the Hamburg race, and achieved his best time in the Amsterdam race with a time of 2:04:40 hours.
The numbers of the Ethiopian runner, Sifu Toura, are no less than his fellow Solomon. He won several titles, including the Mumbai Marathon and runner-up in Amsterdam last year.
And the women's race takes over the same excitement expected in men's competitions, as the Ethiopian, and Corniche Degiva, will be at the forefront of the candidates to win the title, due to its previous experiences with Dubai roads, and its success in achieving distinguished numbers, as she got the runner-up of the last version, and won the title by 2017 , And crowned the Boston Marathon last April.
Marathon program
5:55 (in the morning): wheelchair race begins.
6:00: The 42:19 km main race starts.
8:15: The start of the 10 km race.
9:00: Awards are distributed to the winners of the men and women competitions
9:30: Press conference for the winners of the race.
10:30: 10 km race prizes distributed.
11:00: 4 km race.
Dubai Marathon .. The second fastest race in the world
"The Dubai race has become one of the fastest races in the world, as it currently ranks second in terms of participation and speed, after the Berlin Marathon," said Khaled Al Kamali, general coordinator of the marathon.
He said in a press statement: «Dubai Marathon started with a time of 2:20:00 hours, and the Englishman, Shelton, achieved it until 2:03:34 hours last year, which confirms the great development of this event.
- The Ethiopian Solomon Dixika and his fellow Seifu Tora, as well as the Kenyan Arik Keptanwe, are the most prominent candidates for the title of "men" .. and the Ethiopian Degiva for "women".