Kuumar Shyam (Abu Dhabi)
The sixth ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon saw a new record on Saturday – with 33,000 participants hitting the roads in the Emirate. The list of entries jumped from 25,000 to push the boundaries from the previous staging.
When each of the 33,000 names – of all hues, ages and across geographic boundaries – registered, all ended up as winners in spirit, even if some jogged or even walked across the route in different categories such as 2.5 kilometres, 5km, 10km, marathon relay and full marathon.
Experienced athletes, especially from the African continent, who finished on the podium. In the men's marathon, Ethiopia's Chala Ketema Regasa claimed victory, finishing in 2:06.16 hours, narrowly missing out on a new personal best mark by six seconds. Djibouti's Ibrahim Bouh followed in second place at 2:06.33, with Kenya's Wilfred Kigen taking third in 2:06.47.
The women's marathon was dominated by Kenya's Catherine Amanang'ole, who clocked an impressive 2:20.34 on her debut marathon. She was followed by Eritrea's Dolshi Tesfu in 2:23.47, while Kenya's Aurelia Kiptui rounded out the podium with a time of 2:26.28. They took away a big chunk of $300,000 prize money pool, but for thousands, they took away dollops of confidence, belief and motivation. There were many who ran almost five hours but never gave up until crossing the finish line.
A whole bunch of runners came from Kazakhstan and posed for a picture with one person even having some energy left to shake a leg to the music going on at the Race Village at the base of the ADNOC headquarters, the starting point of the course.
Arkhat Isengaliev registered his third marathon in Abu Dhabi, notching a time of 2 hours and 55 minutes, as the Kazkh athletics coach also doubled up as mentor to his compatriots who came down only for this event.
Former South Korean runner and ex-resident of Dubai, Beom Chul Park, did not run himself, but he too was playing guide at the Race Village, for his compatriots. "I have now started a sports event company and focus only on marathons around the world. This time it is 14 runners that I have brought here," said Park, while constantly craning his neck to look out for his troupe, a South Korean flag prominently on his shoulder. Many runners ran with their national flags.
For Satvir Singh, a civil engineer by profession, long-distance running has become a passion after starting with it as a cure to treat high cholesterol in his 30s. At 45, he has made it to eight marathons in as many years – four in Dubai, one in India, and past three years in Abu Dhabi.
"I train with Dubai Creek Striders with 60-80 kilometres in a week. I have a coach who helps me pace it and strategise especially before the marathons. In the buildup, it starts from 20kms in a day, and then scaling it up by 10% every week heading into this race," says Singh, his two sons joining him separately at the start and finish ends of the course.
By the time the elite group were on the final approach back on the closed Corniche Street, around 8pm, the short-journey enthusiasts were approaching the start dressed in light green shirts.
Among them was Abu Dhabi resident Abhinav Kumar who was accompanied by his pregnant wife Tanushree. Kumar shared that it was his second time at the Abu Dhabi marathon, having run 5kms last year. Clearly smitten by the marathon bug, he said: "The smaller races start around the 9am mark and it became a bit difficult. This time I wanted to do the 10km and thought I would struggle.
"But this one started at 6, and surprisingly it was more easier than I thought. I had no problems. I will continue with this next year," the husband said.