FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DUBAI MARATHON ON SUNDAY:
Book your Seats, Dubai to Paris!
The marathon road to the Paris Olympics this summer will be strewn with
obstacles - illness, injury, failure to set a qualifying time. But a return
for the Dubai Marathon 2024 on Sunday to the fast, flat Jumeirah Beach Road
course which Haile Gebrselassie once described as the 'smoothest surface'
he's ever encountered, means there will be few excuses for those seeking a
relatively trouble-free take-off towards Paris.
Dera Dida of Ethiopia is equally interested in finding out how fast she
might run, if she repeats her victory of last year (2.21.11), which for
administrative reasons was held on a more challenging course outside the
town at Expo City, latterday venue for the COP 28 climate conference. 'I
was very happy to win last year,' said Dida at Friday morning's press
conference, 'but I'm told that this course is much better, and with the new
shoes, which I haven't used before, I hope to run much faster'.
Her colleague Ruti Aga, who finished just a dozen seconds behind her last
year has since run a minute and a half faster than Dida, so there are high
prospects for another intriguing head-to-head.
It's a pity Dida's husband isn't along to advise, since he's no slouch;
Tamirat Tola is an Olympic track medallist, has taken silver and gold in
the World Championships marathon, and won in New York for good measure last
Autumn. His brother Abdisa won Dubai last year, but he's injured this year,
so we won't be getting another 'golden family foto' with his sister in law.
Abdisa continued something of a Dubai tradition on the men's side, that of
debutant's winning in fast times, probably the best of the bunch being
Ayele Abshero winning in 2012 in 2.04.23, then one of the fastest times in
the world. And that made for another historic photo, because the four men
behind him all finished within 30sec, making it the first time that five
men had cracked 2.05 in the same race.
The introduction of carbon fibre midsole super-shoes in recent years have
made times like that commonplace, and there's high expectancy that a
combination of the fast course and the fast shoes, and a dozen men and
women eager to chase Olympic qualifying means that the course records of
2.03.34 and 2.17.08, set pre-pandemic in 2019 are in grave danger.
An intriguing late entry in the women's race is Melat Kejeta, formerly of
Ethiopia but now running for Germany in whose colours she finished sixth in
the Olympic marathon in Tokyo two and a half years ago. Meleta came to
Germany as a refugee from Ethiopia over ten years ago, and as soon as she
got her citizenship, she rewarded her hosts by winning silver for Germany
in the world half-marathon champs in 2020. But taking time out to have a
baby after her Olympic exploit, she needed to qualify for Paris.
Temperatures in Budapest for the world Championships last summer precluded
that, and an overzealous start in the Valencia Marathon last month caused
her drop out. Since three of her colleagues have already qualified, she
needs a time of 2.24. Her best is just three seconds better. 'This is my
last chance to qualify, but both my daughter and I have not been well the
last few days, I'm not sure how it will go.'
Gerda Steyn of South Africa is equally intriguing. She has quietly won the
concurrent 10k race for the last four years, and is overwhelming favourite
to win a fifth title in Sunday. She only took up running when she moved to
Dubai to work ten years ago. But well versed in the history of
ultra-distance running back home, she went back to race, unsuccessfully at
first in the famous Comrades Marathon (88k) and the Two Oceans Marathon
(56k). But her progress was such that she has now won the Comrades twice
and the two Oceans four times in succession. She also finished 15th in the
Olympic marathon, and recently set a SA women's record for the marathon of
2.24.03. She said yesterday, 'I've run the Dubai10k every year (it's been
held) since 2018, and my aim is to win it again. Even though I won't be
running the full marathon, I get to be part of the iconic event.'
For more information please visit www.dubaimarathon.org.
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