This week’s Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon could see some records being broken, especially after slight changes to the route for Friday’s event.
Last year’s men’s champion Tamirat Tola set a new course record of 2h:04m:11s, and said he should have brought the record below the 2:04 mark. This year’s course features two loops of the famous Jumeirah Beach Road, which may give him the chance to break the record.
The elite runners will start at 6AM this year at Umm Suqeim Road, as usual, with the mass marathon set to keep its traditional 7AM start time – all but one of the previous 18 editions have started at 7.
From there Tola, defending women’s champion Worknesh Degefa and the rest of the world-class field will head back towards Madinat Jumeirah and on to the Jumeirah Beach Road for the first of two loops that will see them head up the Beach Road on the left carriageway before making a U-turn at Al Mehemal junction just before the bridge over the Creek.
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“The route gives the elites a fast and flat route that helps them towards their goals of personal bests and course records,” said Peter Connerton, the event director. “The double loop also means the runners will not be stretched all the way down the Beach Road, which will appeal to those spectators who want to come out in the early morning and see the best long-distance runners in the world.”
The 10km race will start at 9:00am and the 4km run at 11:00am – both of these races use King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street and finish on Umm Suqeim Street as the marathon is ongoing.
