Over 100 companies and organisations from across Dubai took on the one-mile (1.6km) course around Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) at the annual Bloomberg Square Mile Relay event on Wednesday.
The race has gone from strength to strength over the years with the event being sold out for the first time this year, having grown rapidly since it launched in Dubai in 2016.
Over 1,000 runners were on the specially-designed course sprinting for the title of ‘fastest firm in the city’ as they were cheered on by their friends and colleagues, but only one team could go home with the title.
Emirates Steel were the overall winners, completing their ten laps of the one-mile course in a time of one hour, one minute and twenty seven seconds, closely followed by Skydive Dubai in second and Standard Chartered Bank in third.
Eslam Ramadan, team captain of winning team Emirates Steel, received the coveted winner’s trophy on stage at the awards presentation and said: “We can’t believe we’ve done it, we wanted to improve on our time from 2018 and enjoy the event as a team, so winning this year is a bonus for us.”
The ‘Fastest Mixed Team’ on the night was won by Real Estate Rockets (JLL) with a combined running time of one hour, six minutes and thirty seconds.
To support female participation across the series, the ‘Fastest Female Team’ category was launched this year, and the inaugural award in Dubai was won by Barclays Ladies Team in a time of one hour, thirty one minutes and three seconds.
The ‘Fastest Runner’ on the night was Phillip Clarke with an impressive time of five minutes and twenty three seconds.
Over 1,400 runners, supporters, friends and family enjoyed the hospitality and entertainment in the Race Village, before concluding the night at the Ritz-Carlton, DIFC at Flair No.5 for the official after party where everyone continued to celebrate.
James Hassett, Managing Director of the event organiser Square Mile Sport, said: “This year marks a huge milestone with over 100 companies participating in the Dubai event – a 100% increase since we launched. Thanks to our increasing portfolio of sponsors and partners and we look forward to another sell-out event in 2020!”
For further information on the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay visit the website at www.squaremilerelay.com
