Dubai Marathon 2009

[shawarma]

• What? Standard Chartered Marathon Dubai 2009, an annual marathon. First one was in 2000, which makes this the 10th Dubai Marathon.
• Where? Start and Finish at The Westin Hotel Dubai Mina Seyahi
• When? Friday 16 January 2009, see below for start times
• How much?
  42.195 marathon starts 0630 (6:30am), fees AED 300-370
  10 km road race starts 0645 (6:45am), fees AED 150-185
  3 km fun run starts 1100 (11am), fees AED 40-50
• Tickets from where? Online at the Dubai Marathon website, or at branches of FitnessFirst but registration closed 31 December 2008
• Organisers?
• Main Sponsors? Standard Chartered. Other sponsors are Dubai Holding (prize money), The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina, Puma, Arab Media Group (AMG), TNT and Fitness First.
• Contact tel? Dubai Marathon Office +971-4-4335669

Anything else?

• Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia (last year's winner) is running again in the 2009 Dubai Marathon, hoping to break his world record of 2h:3m:59s, set in Berlin in September 2008 (he must like the place - that time cracked his previous world record of 2:04:26 which was also set in Berlin, in 2007). If he does, he'll get a bonus of US$1 million from Dubai Holding.
• Marathon prize money - Men's first prize US$250,000, Women's first prize US$250,000
• Road Race prize money - Men's first prize US$1,000, Women's first prize US$1,000
• Marathon starts and finishes at the Westin Dubai and route is mostly along Al Sufouh Rd and Jumeirah Beach Road, down to the large UAE flag pole and back.
• The 10km Road Race starts at the Westin, route is along Al Sufouh Rd to Madinat Jumeirah and back to the Westin.
• The 3km Fun Run starts at the Westin, along Al Sufouh Road to Knowledge Village and back to the Westin.
• See also Standard Chartered Marathon Dubai 2008, Terry Fox Dubai, and Terry Fox Abu Dhabi

[shawarma]

Haile Gebrselassie won the Dubai Marathon again (he won in 2008) in pouring rain with a time of 2:05.29 (unofficial) and missed out on the world record (and an extra million bucks) by about a minute and a half, despite running at a world record beating pace for most of the race. At the 28 km mark he was 25 seconds faster but by the time he'd got to the 37 km mark, he'd fallen behind for the first time in the race and with only 5 km left and the rain coming down, he wasn't able to pick up the pace enough to beat the record. Bezunesh Bekele Sertsu was the first woman across the finish line for the Dubai Marathon, in a time of 2:24.03 (unofficial). She was in 2nd place in the 2008 Dubai Marathon.

Men's Dubai Marathon 2009 results

1. Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 2:05.29 (unofficial), 8th fastest men's marathon time.
2. Deressa Edae Chimsa (Ethiopia) 2:07:54
3. Eshetu Wendimu Tsige (Ehiopia) 2:08:41

Women's Dubai Marathon 2009 results

1. Bezunesh Bekele Sertsu (Ethiopia) 2:24:02
2. Atsede Habtamu Besuye (Ethiopia) Atsede Habtamu 2:25:17
3. Helena Loshanyang Kirop (Kenya) 2:25:35

Edit: Updated with results and times for first 3 men and women