Haile Gebrselassie visits Burj Kalifa, World’s Tallest Building, by Victor Sailer, note by Larry Eder

Haile Gebrselassie and his manager, Jos Hermans, near the Burj Kalifa, photo courtesy of PhotoRun.net.
So, what does the WR holder in the marathon do after a press conference in Dubai? Well, of course, if he is with Victah Sailer, world famous sport photographer, he joins the CEO of Dubai Holdings, the company sponsoring the $ 1 million WR bonus, and visits the Burj Kalifa, the world’s tallest building! Please read Victah’s observations below:

Hi, after Haile did his press conference for Friday’s upcoming Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon. He first visited the CEO of Dubai Holding, Ahmad Bin Byat, which has 1,200 employees competing in Friday’s Races. Dubai Holding also has a One Million Dollar WR Bonus.

Haile Gebrselassie and Ahmad Bin Bayat, the CEO of Dubai Holdings, photo by PhotoRun.net.
Then we headed to the World’s Tallest Building, the Burj Kalifa, which is 828m/2,717 ft tall, weighs 500,000 tons. We took the only elevator of 57, which goes directly to the 124 floor observatory. Haile’s Agent, Jos Hermens timed it, it took 55 seconds, as the elevator travels at 64km/40mph, it is pressurized so you would never know your moving, they have to change elevator operators for such pressure.

Haile in the Burj Kalifa, photo courtesy of PhotoRun.net.
We had a great view at 442m/1,450 feet which is about equal to the top of the Antenna at the Empire State Building.
I would highly suggest visiting in the morning to catch a glimpse of the ocean views of the still being built Seas of the World.

View from Burj Kalifa, January 20, 2010, courtesy of PhotoRun.net.
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Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.

Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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