Reda Saleem (Dubai)
The “23rd edition” of the Dubai International Marathon, which is considered the oldest long-distance running race in the Middle East, will begin on Sunday morning. It is held with the support of the Dubai Sports Council, and is the first international sporting event to be held in Dubai this year, with the participation of an elite group of the most prominent international runners, especially… From Africa who are competing for the first places, and also have the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The marathon returns to its old route, which has changed since 2020, as it starts in front of the Dubai Police Academy, to Umm Suqeim Road, then Jumeirah Street, and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street, and ends again in front of the Dubai Police Academy, and the contestants pass during the race on The most famous tourist facilities, the most prominent of which are Burj Al Arab, Madinat Jumeirah, The Palm Island and the Union Flag.
The marathon includes a 42,195-kilometre race for professionals, a 10-kilometre race for amateurs, and a 4-kilometre race for beginners, for all categories of men and women and people of determination of all nationalities from inside and outside the country.
The competition is taking place between the champions of the last edition for the men’s and women’s titles, as well as a number of winners of recent marathons in the world. The Ethiopians, Workneh Tadesse Mandefru and Kebede Tolu Wami, lead the competition for their personal best time of “2:05:07 hours” in the 2022 Hamburg Marathon, while Tolu recorded His best time was “2.05.19 hours”, and second place in Seville nine months ago, while the shares of Abdisa Tola, the champion of the last edition, declined.
Competing for the women's title are Ethiopians Dera Dida and Ruti Aja. Dida is the holder of the marathon title in its last edition, and the wife of Tamirat Tola, winner of the Dubai Marathon and former world champion, as she won the title in the last edition with a time of 2:21:11 hours, only 13 seconds behind her compatriot Aja. She came in second place, but the runner-up is considered the fastest woman in these races, and she has a personal best time of “2:18:09 hours”, which is the number she achieved when she won the Dongying Marathon in China several months ago, and she is the third participant in the Dubai Marathon. After 2017 and 2023, she has a distinguished career in major marathons, after winning in “Tokyo 2019”, and second place in Berlin twice (2017 and 2018), and she came in third place in the New York Marathon in 2019, which nominates Aja, 29 years old, to win the title. The 23rd edition of the marathon, while Dida succeeded in improving her personal time in the marathon in 2023 to 2:19:24 hours, and came in sixth place in the last Berlin Marathon.
Counselor Ahmed Al-Kamali, the general coordinator of the marathon, confirmed that the event is ready on the starting line, and all organizational and logistical matters have been completed, and the return to the old path is a “motivator” for all competitors, and what is distinguished about the 23rd edition is that it is the first marathon in 2024 to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and a number Many of the competitors and the elite are seeking to secure qualification, in order to start preparing for the Olympics early, which is the secret of the participation of the elite from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.
Al-Kamali explained that the financial prizes in the marathon are comparable to the international marathon prizes, and there are prizes for the first in each category up to tenth place, in addition to prizes for citizen racers, people of determination, and the junior race.
#Dubai #Marathon #draws #scenario #Edition
