January 18th, 2020

Dubai Roads Take Shape For 21st Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon

Recognised as being among the flattest and fastest in the world of distance running, the roads and streets of Dubai are set to be turned into a world-class running “track” for the 21st staging of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on Friday (January 24).

Working alongside the RTA, Dubai Police and Dubai Municipality, event organisers are currently setting up the race site on the city’s Umm Suqeim Road as well as planning the layout and manning of the race routes for the Marathon, the 10km and the 4km Fun Run.

Over the next week, the race infrastructure is set to rise with grandstands, start/finish gantries, international TV production and media facilities, race timing and sponsor activation units moving into place for the biggest annual mass participation sporting event in the Middle East.

Held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and staged under the aegis of the Dubai Sports Council, the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon has again attracted a strong field of experienced elite athletes with Major Marathon titles and international victories to their names, as well as a host of up-and-coming young runners keen to make their mark on the world of distance running.

For the elites and masses who will be running the classic 42.195km marathon distance, the race will start on Umm Suqeim Road and head along Al Sufouh Road before turning back towards the Madinat Jumeirah and continuing down the famous Jumeirah Beach Road in front of the Burj Al Arab for a two-lap loop before finishing back up Umm Suqeim Road opposite the Dubai Police Academy.

The Marathon will have three start times with the wheelchair athletes off at 5.55am, the elites at 6am and the masses an hour later at 7am. In addition to the marathon itself – which will be streamed live across the world with Paula Radcliffe as expert analyst – runners will also take part in the hugely-popular 10km Road Race as well as the 4km Fun Run.

Athletes taking part in the 10km at 8.15am, will start on Sufouh Road opposite the Madinat Jumeriah and run out to a U-turn at the entrance to The Palm Jumeirah before racing back to the finish on Abdulla Omran Taryam Street off Umm Suqeim Road. The 4km Fun Runners will start on the opposite side of the Al Sufouh Road at 11am but also finish on Abdulla Omran Taryam Street.

As well as activations from sponsors such as Dubai Holding and adidas, the race site will also see live outside broadcasts from four stations from Channel 4 Radio Network with many of the network’s presenters running across the three races, while water sponsor Masafi will provide 150,000 bottles of water to keep runners and spectators hydrated throughout the day.

Runners looking to take part in the Marathon, the 10km Road Race or the 4km Fun Run can register online only at www.dubaimarathon.org. UAE Nationals in particular are being encouraged to take part in the event thanks to the ‘#My City_My Race’ campaign, an initiative launched by Dubai Holding.

In addition to Standard Chartered as title sponsor, the Dubai Marathon is supported by the Dubai Sports Council, adidas, Dubai Holding, Masafi, Channel 4 Radio Network, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Police and the RTA. Live TV coverage of the race will be available at http://bit.ly/DubaiMarathon2020.