When the Dubai Marathon made its debut at the turn of the 21st century, the city was still only a few square kilometres around the original centuries-old Arabian trading settlement of Dubai Creek. And the first marathon had fewer than 200 participants, though there were several hundred attracted to the half-marathon. Over the quarter century since then, the city state has expanded towards the neighbouring Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the metro stretches out to the fringes of the desert; and the marathon has grown into one of the prominent in the world, with thousands contesting the marathon and the 10k and 4k events.
After a gradual start, with average winning times around 2:10 for men and mid-2:30s for women, the event took a huge step forward in 2008 when race director Peter Connerton and his partner Ahmad Al Kamali brought world record holder Haile Gebrselassie to Dubai for three consecutive years. Haile’s close brushes with a new world record – his first run in 2008 brought the course record down by over five minutes – catapulted the Dubai Marathon into the top echelon of distance running events around the world.
In the following years, with the accent now more on debutant runners, the race continued to produce spectacular results. In 2012, for the first time on a record-compliant course, four runners finished in under 2:05, ten under 2:07, and 17 under 2:10; with three women under 2:20. All before the advent of supershoes and the new sodium bicarbonate supplements took men’s times down to the threshold of two hours; and women’s to 2:10. Â
In 2014, the then 18-year-old Tsegaye Mekonnen (Ethiopia) ran to a superlative debut victory, setting an unofficial junior world record of 2:04:32. In 2018, seven men ran under 2:05 and four women finished under 2:20, both unprecedented achievements in the history of the marathon at that time. A year later, the then relatively unknown Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya) triumphed in 2:17:08, the third-fastest in history at that point. In the men’s race, debutant Getaneh Molla (Ethiopia) made another spectacular breakthrough: winning in 2:03:34, also setting a course record that still stands today.
Time and again, Ethiopian runners cause a sensation in Dubai, using what is perhaps the fastest course in the world (the difference in altitude between the lowest and highest points is only a few metres) as a springboard to world-class status. The men’s race has been won by marathon novices five times in a row. Two years ago, the women’s race saw another fine debut, Tigist Ketema (Ethiopia) triumphing in the current women’s course record of 2:16:07, an unofficial debut world record that still stands.
Several Dubai Marathon winners have gone on to achieve major triumphs. Debut winner, Lelisa Desisa became the 2019 Marathon World Champion, and his fellow Ethiopian, Tamirat Tola, won the 2024 Olympic gold. Dubai’s success has also spawned other major international running events in the region, such as the Abu Dhabi Marathon and the Ras Al Khaimah ‘half,’ which now comes under the same management as Dubai. Sunday’s 25th anniversary Dubai Marathon aims to continue to build on those foundations, though event director Peter Connerton admits the pandemic caused some disruption.
COVID affected us more than many other top marathons, because we had to miss two years, which is why this year’s event is the 25th anniversary. And although we’re going through what I’d call a period of consolidation, we still have top prize money, with $80,000 for first place men and women; and our times still put us in the top ten marathons worldwide.’
The Dubai weather is unseasonably cool at the moment, with no more than 16 °C expected at the new, earlier start time of 5:45 am for the elites. That is something that women’s favourite, Fantu Worku of Ethiopia, particularly appreciates. She ran a fine debut time of 2:21:57 in Berlin four months ago, but as she said at Friday’s press conference, the temperature of 25 °C in the German capital was far too hot. I’ve trained really well since then, and hope to run under 2:20 in cooler conditions. Men’s race favourite, her colleague Gadisa Birhanu, was more circumspect. He has a best time of 2:04:59, in winning in Seville 2023, and would only be tempted to say, ‘I’ve come here to win’.
A live stream of the Dubai Marathon (race starts at 5:45 am) will be accessible on Sunday through the website:Â www.dubaimarathon.org
Men
Gadisa Birhanu ETH 2:04:59
Berehanu Tesgu ETH 2:05:24
Abera Kuma ETH 2:05:50
Deribe Robi ETH 2:05:58
Hailu Zewdu ETH 2:06:31
Belay Bezabeh ETH 2:06:58
Gadissa Tafa ETH 2:07:02
Gizealew Ayana ETH 2:07:15
Yasin Haji ETH 2:07:45
Nibret Melak ETH Debut
Semachw Sewnet ERI Debut
Women
Mimi Belete BRN 2:21:22
Fantu Worku ETH 2:21:57
Anchinalu Dessie ETH 2:22:17
Tigst Getnet ETH 2:23:17
Abebech Afework ETH 2:23:33
Sofia Assefa ETH 2:23:33
Zinash Mekonen ETH 2:24:55
Muliye Dekebo ETH 2:25:35
Maritu Ketema ETH 2:25:55
Tadelech Bekele ETH 2:26:23
Lemlem Hailu ETH no mark
Alemaddis Eyayu ETH Debut
Aberash Shilima ETH Debut
