It was a warm morning in Dubai for the Burg2Burj Half Marathon on Sunday. The meaning of Burj2Burj is “tower to tower,” as the race runs between two cities and their respective towers that mark the start and finish areas. The race runs the 21.1 kilometres from the Burj Al Arab to the Burj Khalifa.
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Kenya’s Irine Cheptai won the event on Sunday.
They finished in 59:26 and 66:57, respectively.
In the women’s race, Kenyan Daisilah Jerono finished in 66:59 to take second place, while Ethiopian Ftaw Zeray clocked in a 67:01 third-place result.
The second and third men were Nicholas Kipkorir and Alphonce Simbu from Tanzania. They record finishes of 59:28 and 59:30, respectively.
For Cheptegei, he finished just five seconds off of his personal best from the 2020 Gdynia, Poland World Half Marathon Championships, where he finished in fourth place.
In September 2025, Kipkorir set his personal best in the Copenhagen Half Marathon at 58:23. Today’s race was a new personal best for the 33-year-old Simbu.
Irine Cheptai has a 64:53 personal best from the 2023 Valencia Half Marathon. It is the 38th fastest performance in history. For the 23-year-old Jerono, Dubai was her personal best performance. Zeray’s best is 66:04.
The women’s world record is 62:52 by Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey from her 2021 running of the Valencia Half Marathon. For the men, it is 57:30 by Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha from his 2024 running in Valencia. Last year, Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda ran 56:42 in Barcelona, but it was deemed not record-worthy as Kiplimo was assisted by the lead vehicle.
Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya continues to hold onto the women’s-only half marathon record of 65:16 from the Gyndia World Half Marathon Championships. Meaning it was a women’s-only race with no men to draft or pace off of.
The prize purse includes AED 40,000 for first place, AED 20,000 for second, and AED 16,000 for third, down to tenth place. One AED is equal to 70 cents USD. There may have been appearance fees paid, especially for Cheptegei as he holds world records in the 5000m and 10,000m events as well as a few national records.
Results
Top-10 women
| Pos | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irine Cheptai | KEN | 1:06:57 |
| 2 | Daisilah Jerono | KEN | 1:06:59 |
| 3 | Ftaw Zeray | ETH | 1:07:01 |
| 4 | Jackline Cherono | KEN | 1:09:11 |
| 5 | Alexandra Bell | GBR | 1:09:35 |
| 6 | Meritxell Soler | ESP | 1:12:00 |
| 7 | Seba Diba | ETH | 1:12:47 |
| 8 | Mikky Keetels | NED | 1:14:12 |
| 9 | Tea Faber | CRO | 1:20:01 |
| 10 | Nada Ina Pauer | AUT | 1:20:31 |
Top-10 men
| Pos | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Cheptegei | UGA | 59:26 |
| 2 | Nicholas Kipkorir | KEN | 59:28 |
| 3 | Alphonce Simbu | TAN | 59:30 |
| 4 | Enos Kipruto | KEN | 1:00:03 |
| 5 | Lulu Negera | ETH | 1:00:04 |
| 6 | Aklilu Asfaw | ETH | 1:00:27 |
| 7 | Richard Ringer | GER | 1:01:07 |
| 8 | Yonah Mateiko | KEN | 1:01:16 |
| 9 | Haftu Teklu | ETH | 1:02:25 |
| 10 | Carlos Diaz | CHI | 1:03:34 |
