Spikes22 Jan 2015


The Dubai Marathon in Numbers

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Haile Gebrselassie

Tomorrow (January 23) sees the latest edition of the the Dubai Marathon take place, which since its inception in 2000 has gained a reputation as one of the fastest in the world. We break the long, hot race down in to cold, hard numbers.

2 – The number of men who have secured a hat-trick of wins in the event; Wilson Kibet (2000-02) of Kenya, and Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie (2008-2010).

3 – The number of women who ran a sub-2:20 marathon in 2012 – an unprecedented achievement. Ethiopia’s Aselefech Mergia (2:19:31) finished first ahead of Kenyan Lucy Kabuu (2:19:34), with Mergia’s compatriot Mare Dibaba (2:19:52) rounding off the terrific trio.

5 – The number of men who ran a sub 2:05 in the 2013 race – the first and only time the feat has been achieved in marathon history. Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia led home the field in a time of 2:04:45.

The leading runners as the 2014 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon gets underway

The leading runners at the start of the 2014 edition (Organisers / Giancarlo Colombo)

12.5 – The average heat in degrees celsius at the start time of the Dubai Marathon (7am). Organisers predict a start time temperature of between 10-15C, which makes sense given that its average is, well, 12.5.

18 – The age of Ethiopian Tsegaye Mekonnen when he won last year's men's race. He ran a world junior marathon best of 2:04:32, which puts him joint 12th on the all-time lists in what was his debut in the event.

27.5 – The percentage of the world’s 40 fastest men’s marathon times that have been achieved in the Dubai Marathon. That’s an incredible 11/40, equal to the figure of the Berlin Marathon.

321 – The height in metres of the luxury five-star Burj Al Arab hotel – known as ‘the world’s only seven star hotel’ – which stands close to the start and finish line.

Tsegaye Mekonnen wins at the 2014 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon

Tsegaye Mekonnen wins the 2014 race in a new world junior record (Organisers / Giancarlo Colombo) 

500 – The total number of seconds by which Askale Margarsa of Ethiopia defeated her compatriot Abebe Tola in the women’s race at the 2007 edition – a record margin in the race's history. That is only slightly longer than it takes for a typical men’s Diamond League 3000m steeplechase to be ran.

25,000 – The estimated number of participants in various events at the 2015 Dubai Marathon. As well as the 26-miler, there is a 10km and 4km fun run.

50,000 – The approximate amount of water in litres provided for participants by event organisers for the Dubai Marathon participants. All that fluid is handed out in around 100,000 500ml plastic water bottles.

100,000 – The total figure in US dollars on offer for the man or woman who breaks the marathon world record in Dubai. The bonus has been available since 2008, though no athlete has yet collected the prize. Haile came closest when winning the 2008 edition in 2:04:53, a time that made him the second fastest marathon man at the time.

You can watch the Dubai Marathon live on dubaimarathon.org.