The 23rd iteration of the Dubai Marathon saw Ethiopian runners coming out in flying colors with some record-breaking performances. Ethiopia’s Tigist Ketema made a stunning debut as she won the women’s race in a record time of 2 hours 16:07 minutes on Sunday. Addisu Gobena, also from Ethiopia won the men’s race at the World Athletics Label road race in 2:05:01.

In its relatively brief history (the race was first held in 2000), the Dubai Marathon has become one of the most respected and most lucrative marathons in the world in terms of prize money. This year’s event saw Ketema and Gobena bag the first spot and a prize money of $80k.

Ethiopia continues to dominate Dubai Marathon with recent success

Popular track and field blogger RunBlogRun announced the results of the men’s race via an X post that said, “2024 Dubai Marathon, Top 5 Men, Addisu Gobena, ETH, 2:05:01, 2. Lemi Dumecha, ETH, 2:05.20, 3. Dejene Megersa, ETH, 2:05.42, 4. Abdi Fufa, ETH, 2:06.23, Samuel Fitwi, GER, 2:06.23”. On the women’s side, the vanguard was led by Tigist Ketema, Ruti Aga, and Dera Dida as they rounded up the podium. Upon closer inspection of the results, one can easily detect one common factor in both the winner’s list.  In the women’s race, only German Melat Kejeta was in the top 10, and in the men’s race, Germany’s Samuel Fitwi and Kenya’s Douglas Kipsanai Chebii were the only athletes in the top 10. This speaks volumes about Ethiopia’s long-distance training program.

The Dubai marathon, categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics, has seen Ethiopian runners win the event 15 times. Since 2008 Ethiopia has only lost once in Dubai. These winners from the fabled land of Abyssinia also secured a few mind-blowing achievements in the significant Olympic year. Ketema smashed the course record by more than a minute.

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The 25-year-old, who had previously been an 800m specialist and had never competed at any distance farther than 10km, now moves to eighth on the world all-time list. She now sits third on her country’s all-time list behind world record-holder Tigist Assefa and world champion Amane Beriso.

Gobena also led an Ethiopian sweep of the podium in the men’s race. Previously his only known performance was a third-place finish at the Delhi Half Marathon three months ago, but the U20 athlete made a name for himself by winning in Dubai in 2:05:01. Both Tigist Ketema and Addisu Gobena were debutantes in the Dubai Marathon. While the winners bagged $80k each, the second place earned $40k and the third place got $20k for both the men’s and women’s events.

Notwithstanding their success, the 2024 Dubai Marathon was extra-special for its runners.

Dubai Marathon regains familiar course

It was a return to “home” experience for many veterans of the Dubai Marathon on January 7. The race course spanned the lap around Madinat Jumeirah, which meant the runners went past the Burj Khalifa before reaching the finish line near the Dubai Police Academy. Before 2020, the Dubai Marathon was predominantly staged at this course, but for the last four years, no mass sporting event has been allowed at this location.

Addisu Gobena Wins Gold to Take Home $80K Prize at Dubai Marathon

Therefore, when the Dubai officials lifted the restriction, thousands of runners registered for the run. Alongside the elite race, the wheelchair marathon, the 10km Road Race, and the 4km Fun Run also earmarked events for the course.

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