(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- Blue skies and cheering crowds greeted the participants of Muscat Marathon as an international field revelled in the near perfect running conditions for the event. The eighth edition of the increasingly popular event got under way soon after dawn on Friday, the early morning light showing the way for thousands of athletes taking part in the full marathon, half-marathon, marathon relay and 10km races.
Flagged off by women's world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe – an ambassador for Muscat Marathon – the field took advantage of a windless day and a temperature of 20°C. The men's marathon race was led by the largest number of elite long-distance athletes ever gathered in Oman, and at the finish it proved to be Kenya's day with one of the pre-start favourites, Ronald Korir, winning in a time of 2:13:36. He finished ahead of his countryman John Langat (2:15:41) and Uganda's Jackson Kiprop (2:15:43).
'The race was good and the course very good – and I am happy with my time,' said a delighted Korir. 'It is my first time at Muscat Marathon and I will be back next year.' The women's marathon was won by Ethiopia's Gada Bontu in 2:36:04, a time quick enough to earn her a ninth place overall, ahead of Kenya's Lucy Ndungu (2:42:07) and Asnakech Mengistu representing Ethiopia (2:43:03) placed third.
'It was a good race for me and I am very happy – the course was flat so that is very good as well,' said Gada.
The half-marathon witnessed a neck-and-neck finish between Moroccan athletes Noaman Elassaoui and Bouazzaoui Abdelali. Elassaoui claimed victory by less than a second in 1:10:52. Iran's Morteza Beiravand took third place.
The very popular 10km race – with more than 1,700 athletes registered – saw local Omani runners show their form, taking the first spot and eight of the top-ten places. Victory went to Bilarab al Hamhami in 34:29, ahead of Iran's Mohammad Bagheritajamir with Omani runner Naser al Kamashki taking the third spot on the podium.
The women's race was won by Brazil's Cristina Ferraz (47:33) with Kristin Westby placing second and Gerd Inger Brunborg at third. Paula, who took part in the 10km race, enjoyed the running and supporting other women runners in the field.
The relay marathon event, which attracted a very strong entry of 70 teams, was won by a team from Royal Guard of Oman ahead of entries from Sultan's Special Forces and Royal Air Force of Oman. The two-day festival of running continued on Saturday.
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