Runners of all ages, abilities and nationalities are already signing up for the 2018 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon – the Middle East’s biggest mass participation sporting event – as they prepare for a place on the start line of the Marathon, the 10km and the 4km Fun Run on Friday, January 26.
Registration for the event is done through the event’s website – www.dubaimarathon.org – and the three runs are already filling up with competitors from home and abroad.
Among the more than 30,000 runners that will line up across the three events will be groups of runners representing many companies and government bodies. It’s a category actively encouraged by the event organisers.
Since the Dubai Marathon launched group entries, the biggest participant in terms of runner numbers has been Dubai Holding, which has again thrown its support behind the event.
As well as tens of thousands of everyday runners and part-time athletes who make up the majority of the fields, the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon will again feature the elite athletes whose very presence and world-class finishing times have helped establish the race as one of the best in athletics.
Following Tamirat Tola’s new course record win in January this year, the average of the top ten times in the history of the Dubai Marathon is 2h:04m:36s making it the third-fastest in Marathon history behind only Berlin and London, while it is the second fastest Marathon in the world based on the average of the top ten results since 2010.
In the women’s race, the Dubai Marathon is the only Marathon in history to have three runners break a time of 2h:20m in the same race (2012).
In addition to Standard Chartered as title sponsor, the Dubai Marathon is supported by the Dubai Sports Council, adidas, Dubai Eye 103.8FM, Sport 360, Masafi Natural Water, Dubai Holding, Dubai Police and the RTA.
