A marathon consists of run for 42.2 km or over 26 miles. For most of us, that is almost impossible to achieve at one go. So when Abu Dhabi had its first marathon, this was something that challenged a lot of fitness enthusiasts. Since a full marathon is such a tough ask, it also attracted sporting talent from other countries.
The ADNOC Abu Dhabi marathon event featured various levels of difficulty including 42 km and 10 km, as well as 5 km and 2.5 km fun runs. the event took place on 7th December 2018.
The route was along a picturesque route, starting at the ADNOC tower. Along the way, participant runners passed landmarks such as World Trade Centre, the Corniche, Big Flag and the newly reopened Qasr Al Hosn.
There were participants of over 119 nationalities with many international elite athletes who chose to participate. Some of the well known athletes who participated included Abraham Kiptum, Stanley Biwott, Gelete Burka, Eunice Chumba Chebichii, Ababel Yeshaneh, Helen Tola, Abera Kuma, Marius Kipserem and Merima Mohammed.
There were some ten thousand participants in all. The event also had a special wheelchair category. This was won by Emiratis Husain Al Mazam and Rashed Al Dhaheri.
The Abu Dhabi marathon was won by Kenya’s Marius Kipserem who beat his personal best with a time of 2:04:04 as he crossed the finish line. Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh won the women’s elite race with the time of 2:20:17 as she crossed the finish line.
With the great success of the inaugural event of the marathon, the organisers expressed the view that the marathon could become a bigger event in times to come. With this, Abu Dhabi cements its position as hub for big ticket sporting events; being host to a number of other annual sporting events including tennis and golf tournaments and the annual Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula One race.
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