Dubai: The huge turn-out for the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon has the organisers excited. They feel it is indicative of the increasing popularity of the event.
To make it the colourful event it is known for, most spectators dressed for the occasion, some even in fancy clothing. In the 4km Fun Run Chris Woodey, raised awareness for the Emirates Wildlife Society by running the distance dressed as a panda. Ethiopians and Kenyans, meanwhile, created a colourful sea of flags waving at the runners.
Speaking to Gulf News, Ahmad Al Kamali, the Event General Co-ordinator and President of the UAE Athletics Federation, said: “It was great to see the large turnout with 37,000 running and nearly 55,000 fans cheering them. It’s always a wonderful feeling to see so many people of all ages running in the streets of Dubai. The run was good especially for three to run 2:04 and rest to run 2:05 is something special.”
Though the course record did not get shattered, Kamali was happy that runners made an attempt to break the world record. “Till the 30km they were close to the world record pace. We were hoping there might be a course record but it was very close.” The men’s winner Tesfaye Abera’s timing was the second fastest in the history of the event, after an opening attack that saw the fastest ever 30km split mark at 1:27:20.
He insisted that the Ethiopians are “the best at the moment”.
“There are not many 2:04 runners like Ethiopians. We were expecting Kenya to produce better results but it seems like they are training less than they should be doing,” Kamali opined.
Sebastian Coe, the IAAF President, attended the prize giving function. “We are thankful to Coe who took the time to present trophies to all our winners and give them a day to remember. Coe is delighted with the run and timing too,” he added.
Most of the runners tried their best to better their timing. Even the elite wheelchair event saw Londoner John Smith taking the title in a course record of 1:35:56, while Dubai’s regular Rob Smith finished in 2:02:17 and Ali Abdallah Sawalmeh from Jordan third in 2:23:00.
