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Event Information:
The
Dubai Marathon (official name
Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon)
is an annual marathon running race
held in Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates.
The race is held in January each
year, the first being run on 14
January 2000. In April 2007, it was
announced that the 2008 race would
become the world's richest long
distance running event in history,
with one million dollars offered for
a world record and $250,000 for
first place for both the men and
women.
The
2008 race was won by Haile
Gebrselassie in a time of 2:04:53,
making it the second fastest
marathon of all time, but not fast
enough to claim a world record and
the million dollar prize. With the
largest field of competitors in the
Middle East, the Standard Chartered
Dubai Marathon may be the biggest
running event in the region but none
of it would be possible without the
support of the Dubai Sports Council,
according to race officials.
More than 12,000 runners will take
to the streets of the emirate for
the staging of the Standard
Chartered Dubai Marathon on January
21. Held under the patronage of HH
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, Vice President and Prime
Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai,
the event is staged under the aegis
of the Dubai Sports Council.
With
$250,000 on offer to the winners of
both the men and women’s marathon,
the event remains the richest in the
world with a $1 million total prize
fund that is still greater than
those offered by the marathon majors
in London, Boston, New York and
Berlin.
Yet despite the big rewards on offer
to the winners, the event is one of
the few world-class sporting
occasions in the region where hardy
amateurs of all ages, nationalities
and levels can compete shoulder to
shoulder with some of the biggest
names in world distance running.
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