RAS AL KHAIMAH HALF MARATHON SET FOR 18TH EDITION ON SATURDAYThousands anticipated for annual four-race operating occasion
Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, January 30: Held below the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon will return for its 18th version on Saturday (February 1), with 4 races beginning and ending on Al Marjan Island.The Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Growth Authority (RAKTDA) hosts the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, a long-standing sporting and social fixture attracting group runners and worldwide elites.
Iyad Rasbey, Vice President of Vacation spot Tourism Growth at Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Growth Authority, stated, “Ras Al Khaimah continues to excel as a premier vacation spot for nature, journey, and sporting occasions. With the very best variety of contributors anticipated this yr, the 18th version of the RAK Half Marathon highlights our emirate’s development and powerful group focus.
“Sports activities tourism, a cornerstone of our development technique, not solely stimulates native companies but in addition enhances the liveability of our group by fostering more healthy, happier life. We look ahead to welcoming skilled athletes, households, and operating fans alike, and we want everybody taking part the most effective of luck!”The occasion options the title 21.1km half-marathon race and runs at 2km, 5km, and 10km for athletes of all ages and skills.This yr, Kenyan Isaia Lasoi – who completed third within the 2024 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon – will return assured of ending increased on the rostrum after setting his new private finest within the 2024 Copenhagen Half Marathon (58:10), a time which makes him the quickest man within the RAK Half discipline for 2025. It’s additionally 40 seconds faster than his third-place end 12 months in the past.
He can be joined on the beginning line by the likes of Ethiopians Adamlak Belihu (58:54) – a two-time winner of the New Delhi Half Marathon – and Gemechu Dida (58:59), who completed fourth in RAK in 2023, in addition to Kenyan Commonwealth Video games 5,000m silver medallist Nicholas Kipkorir (59:02).Within the girls’s discipline, two athletes are tied on half marathon private bests of 64:14. Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon champion in 2022, Girmawit Gebrzihair, established her private finest when setting the RAK course file three years in the past, whereas her fellow Ethiopian Ejgayehu Taye recorded the identical time when ending fourth on her half marathon debut in Valencia final yr.
A World Championship bronze medallist indoors and out and a high eight finisher on the Olympic Video games, Taye not often races on the highway however involves Ras Al Khaimah in a buoyant temper and is targeted on a record-breaking run within the Gulf on Saturday. In her solely efficiency on the half marathon in Valencia, she completed forward of final yr’s Ras Al Khaimah winner Tsigie Gebrselama.
Additionally confirmed within the discipline is gifted Kenyan Judy Kemboi (65:43), a relative newcomer to worldwide highway racing who received three straight half marathons in 2024 (Gent, Geneva, and Riga) earlier than setting her private finest ending runner-up on the Copenhagen Half Marathon, additionally in 2024.
Race organizers are placing the ultimate constructing blocks in place to show the roads right into a operating circuit. The beginning and end strains can be created outdoors Al Khaimah Tourism Growth Authority (RAKTDA) workplace on Al Marjan Island.
The Runner’s Village will present an estimated 10,000 runners with a kids’s play zone, radio broadcasts, meals and drinks, a DJ, and reside music to entertain athletes and spectators all through the morning. As well as, a 500-seat grandstand has been constructed to permit family and friends to take a seat and help the runners as they cross the end line and acquire their medals.
For many who have but to enroll to run, registration for the annual Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon stays open at rakhalfmarathon.com, though the final day to gather these important race packs and run numbers is Friday (January 31).
Adidas, Channel 4 Radio Community, ITP Media Group, and Bisleri Water additionally sponsor the 2025 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon.ENDS
