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UAE: Meet elite runners hitting marathon track in Abu Dhabi to battle for $300,000 prize money

Over 31,800 runners registered in Adnoc Abu Dhabi Marathon, with 3,000 running full 42.1km distance

While growing up in Eritrea, Dolshi Tesfu would play football in the fields and was always impressed by the strength and agility of marathon runners.

She shifted sports and embraced running at 19, becoming an Olympic marathoner five years later, and marrying a man she met on the track a few years later.

The 25-year-old is one of seven elite female runners flying from Africa to battle it out on the island’s streets during the Adnoc Abu Dhabi Marathon this Saturday, competing for prize money that exceeds $300,000.

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This year’s elite runners include Dolshi Tefsu, Eritrea; Catherine Reline and Vibian Chepkirui, Kenya for the female category and Chala Regasa, Ethiopia; Afewerki Hidrui, Eriterea and; Mike Kiptum, Kenya from the male category.

“When I was a footballer, I used to watch the strong runners from Eritrea compete around the world and I was fascinated by how strong they were, so I became passionate about marathons,” she told Khaleej Times, at the marathon race village on Thursday.

In 2022, Tesfu completed her first marathon in Valencia in 2:20:40, she then raced in Rotterdam, Hungary and the Paris Olympics Marathon last summer. When asked what motivates her to run a marathon at a significant speed, she said: “I know marathon is very tough, but I am passionate about it, and I just keep going.”

Her profound passion brought her face to face with her husband, also a marathoner, a year ago. The couple have been married for eight months, “he is back home preparing for a personal record for an upcoming race,” she said.

Her most challenging course so far was the Paris Olympics, “it had a lot of uphill and downhill.”

She said she was looking forward to the course this weekend, aiming to beat her previous scores and arriving first at the finish line.

Chala Regasa, from Ethiopia, started running when he was eight to his school which was 4km away from his house. His morning school runs shaped the elite marathoner skills he enjoys today, winning him the Vienna City Marathon earlier this year. He scored the third fastest time in the history of 41-year-old race, reaching the finish line in two hours and six minutes.

After training for four months for the upcoming marathon, the 27-year-old said he expects to finish even faster in Abu Dhabi recording a personal best of 2:04:25.

“I was surprised that the weather here is so good here and the city is so nice, I expected it to be hotter.

“I hope this marathon will be easier since it’s flat, Vienna was hilly and windy.”

Considering he would run faster on a flat course, Regasa said he has been focusing on speed training for this race, running every morning and afternoon for over two hours while listening to Ethiopian hype music for inspiration, particularly the tunes of late Hachalu Hundessa.

“During the race I think of people who motivate me to run faster and I stick to the pace of my target finish time.”

When asked why he finds running appealing as a lifestyle and career, he said: “No reason, I just love it.”

“I run not only to race and break records, but to take care of myself and health,” he added.

Up until Thursday afternoon, a total of 31,800 athletes had registered for the 2024 Adnoc Abu Dhabi Marathon, said Aref Al Awani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council; the race still had room for over a thousand more.

The emirate has introduced several running and cycling tracks in an effort to encourage its residents to adopt active life habits. “We will soon announce recent findings that residents have surpassed the [recommended] rate set by World Health Organisation (WHO) for engaging in sports [or physical activity].”

Race organisers have been working on elevating participants’ experiences since the first edition in 2018. Feeding off runners’ feedback, the full distance route begins by looping the corniche and Marina Mall twice, to a one loop course that runs across the island from one corner to corner, making it "the only marathon internationally" to fully cross a city.

With the number of full distance runners rising each year, aid stations have been positioned at every 2.5km ranging between water stops, supplement drinks, fruits and energy gels. The proportion of water bottles at aid stations is 1.5 bottles per runner, said Luca Onofrio, Head of Mass Events at RCS Sports which has been managing the Adnoc Abu Dhabi Marathon since its inaugural edition six years ago.

Commenting on an incident in 2021, when aid stations towards the end of the course ran out of water bottles after four hours of race start, he said: “We had some issues before, now we are aware why they occurred, and we learned from previous mistakes.”

He said many logistical changes have been amended considering the growing number of participating athletes, such as allocating separate finish lines for 5k and 2.5k runners and positioning 500 volunteers across the course. A total of 15 ambulances,100 nurses and paramedics will be rolled out on race day by Burjeel Hospital.

“The city is also becoming more familiar with the concept of the marathon, and you see a growing number of spectators every year, we also added an energy zone with a live DJ at the corniche to motivate the runners.”

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