Burj in Arabic means tower. The Burj2Burj Half Marathon took place Sunday through downtown Dubai on a flat and fast course. However, the temperatures were warm and the wind was high, preventing fast times from happening.

Women

Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw won the women’s race in the time of 1:07:09 to take home $10,000. Great Britain’s Eilish McColgan took second finishing in 1:08:58. Kenyan Jackline Cherono ended up in third in 1:09:33.

68:58 (68:57 chip) for @EilishMccolgan at the Burj2burj Half Marathon, finishing second behind Yalemzerf Yehualaw 🇦🇪 https://t.co/PHNCWYNtoR

— Fast Running (@FastRunning) February 9, 2025

Yehualaw has run the half-marathon as fast as 1:03:51 in Valencia in 2021. The 25-year-old holds the Ethiopian national record in the 10K road race at 29:14, which she ran in Castellón, Spain in 2022. The world record remains at 1:02:52 set by fellow Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey from her 2021 Valencia run. Yehualaw holds the fifth-fastest time in history. Ten of the top-30 times in history have been run on the Valencia course.

There were three women who finished sub-1:10:00.

Men

For the men, it was a Kenyan sweep with Bernard Kiprop Koech clocking a 1:00:15 performance. Close behind was Wisley Kipkemoi in 1:00:38 for second in a new personal best time. Enos Kipruto took third at 1:01:40PB.

Thirty-seven-year-old Koech has run as fast as 59:10, but not since 2012.

Prize money

Male and female prize money

• 1st – $10,000
• 2nd – $4,000
• 3rd – $3,000

Bonus prize

$3,000 for

• 1st male under 60 mins for 21.1km
• 1st female under 70 mins for 21.1km

Results

Women

Men