Posted: January 11, 2007

Athletics: Dubai Marathon Set For Tomorrow

From David Monti © 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com Friday's Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, the eighth edition of the race, will be held tomorrow on a modified course in the United Arab Emirates. The 2006 men's champion, Joseph Kiprotich Ngeny of Kenya, began last year's race as a pacemaker, but decided to finish. He's in Dubai again this year to defend his title. "I was pacing to 30-K, but at 25-K, I still felt strong, and I could see the guys were starting to drop away," said Ngeny in a press release. "I felt confident then that I could win." In very hot conditions --the race was posponed about a month because of the death of Dubai's ruler-- he ran 2:13:07. Europe's fastest marathoner, Benoit Zwierzchlewski of France, is also entered in the race, but as a pacemaker. The fast-talking athlete ran 2:06:36 in Paris in 2003, and he'll be making his debut in Dubai. "I'm happy to run whatever pace you want," he told Ngeny at a press conference on Wednesday. Last year's women's champion, the former Kenyan road racing star Delillah Asiago, will not be back to defend her title. That leaves Askale Magarsa of Ethiopia as the top athlete in the field with a 2:27:57 personal best. She'll be facing Renata Paradowska of Poland (2:27:17 PB). The winners are to receive USD 30,000, provided they break 2:15:00 and 2:32:00, respectively. The weather is expected to be realtively cool. Comment on this story. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest

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