The media centre at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon is beautifully situated, just a handful of metres from the finish line.
Reporting on a marathon is a unique experience as you feel the pain of the runners and toil on their bodies; it’s always tricky to time that moment when you ask someone who’s just run 42.195km for a ‘quick’ interview.
That said, you also see the emotion, faces beaming and massive sense of achievement.
This race means a lot for many people and is really proof in the pudding why it has grown to be an integral fixture in the UAE sporting calendar.
Friday’s edition was the 19th marathon in Dubai and although its history may not match-up to the London Marathon, for example, it has quickly become a much talked about stop on the long distance calendar, particularly for those travelling from afar.
That begs the question of what’s next? 2019 will mark the 20th anniversary of a marathon that is the richest in the world in terms of prize money, one of the quickest as we witnessed again and one of the locations to visit at this time of the year.
The Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series consisting of six of the biggest and most famous marathons in the world, featuring Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York, has discussed the possibility of expansion.
The speed of the elite long distance runners and wheelchair athletes never ceases to amaze. TV doesn’t do it justice, you have to watch them up close to really see how fast they’re running. Unbelievable. 🔥 #DubaiMarathon pic.twitter.com/bQ0i2GIjvU
— Stu Appleby (@Stuart_Appleby) January 26, 2018
Dubai has to be amidst the conversation to be given a place in this exclusive company. The marathon has actually helped pioneer the growth of the sporting landscape in the Middle East and the ambition the city’s race organisers have shown over the past two decades is testament to that.
Some might say the annual January race is geared towards elite performers and they have a point given the prize money at stake and hype about breaking world records on a flat track.
The flipside of that is there is actually a huge focus on local runners and the marathon has helped a) get more people running and b) encouraged thousands to lead an active lifestyle.
However, of the 30,000 or so runners admirably competing in the marathon, 10km or 4km, the bulk of those weren’t running the full distance, so perhaps this event, like Dubai as a destination, has to do more to market itself as a travel marathon.
The weather of course is a big factor and an early start is really a necessity because of the heat, but could a larger chunk of a future course take in some of the beach, even the marina instead of a road, like Al Sufouh, which is pretty barren and will never see a large amount of spectators?
Building in some quirks, mixing it up and including more elements of the culture in the UAE may add on a few seconds or minutes to a runners’ time, but what price is that for experience and memories?
Good luck to everyone running #DubaiMarathon today! 💪👏
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Most other marathons pride themselves on landmarks, the cityscapes and while the Burj Al Arab is faintly in shot for most finish line photos, the race doesn’t really scratch the surface of what Dubai’s about.
The UAE is brilliantly diverse in that people from all over the world live here but at the same time that does make it difficult to increase awareness of when the event is on for spectators, and the lack of people lining the streets throughout the whole route does take some atmosphere away from what is actually a fine spectacle.
This year’s tweaked course, which included a double loop, wasn’t ideal for the masses given it was altered at late notice.
However, changing the elite runners’ start times was a shrewd move and with a few subtle adjustments, almost copy-catting what makes the European running scene so fruitful, Dubai should become a major force.
That’s an exciting thought in a city where change is embraced and is seen as the norm.
