by Alfonz Juck
The start of the 2019 SC Dubai Marathon, photo by Giancarlo Columbo/Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon RunBlogRun opines on SC Dubai Marathon: The conditions were near perfect: Cool, 65 degrees at start, 5-10 MPH wind, and temperature dropping to 61 F degrees by two hours into the race. Near perfect halfway for men and women (1:01:43 for men, 1:08:10 for women). And after 30k for the men, pacers gone, attritrion has them at 4-5. Then, the race got interesting with Getaneh Molla breaking Herpassa Negassa with 600 meters to go. On the women’s side, Rosa Chepngetich followed up on her fab Istanbul Marathon performance, with her amazing 2:17:08. Worknesh Degefa held on for a gutty 2:17:41. What is the secret of Dubai? Talented athletes who want to race well, and have to race well to make money here, battling to the very finish, on a fast course, in near perfect weather. And the streaming video which can be seen here: https://www.runblogrun.com/2019/01/watch-the-2019-standard-chartered-marathon-live-january-24th-at-6pm-pst.html, was magnifiscent. Kudos to Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon providing free streaming video, free for all the world to see.
Getanah Molla breaks CR with his 2:03:34, photo by Standard, Chartered Dubai MarathonSuper fast Dubai: 2:03:34 and 2:17:08
DUBAI (UAE, Jan 25): The Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon once again produced super-fast times in both the men’s and women’s races. Ethiopia’s Getaneh Molla made the fastest ever debut at the distance, winning the men’s race in 2:03:34 (61:43/61:51) to lead an Ethiopian clean sweep ahead of Herpassa Negasa (2:03:40) and Asefa Mengistu (2:04:24). Kenya’s Emmanuel Saina was fourth in 2:05:01 while Switzerland’s Tadesse Abraham, who was aiming to break Mo Farah’s European record of 2:05:11, was the first non-African finisher in tenth in 2:09:49 (63:14/66:35). Notable non-finishers included former winner Lemi Berhanu and Guye Adola. In the women’s race, Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich moved to third on the world all-time lists behind Paula Radcliffe (2:15:25) and Mary Keitany (2:17:01) with 2:17:08 (68:10/68:58) ahead of former winner Worknesh Degefa who set an Ethiopian record of 2:17:41 to move to fourth on the world all-time lists. Worknesh Edesa was a distant third in 2:21:05.
Ruth Chepngetich wins Dubai, photo by Giancarlo Columbo/StandardCharteredDubaiMarathon
