(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The city rolled out the red carpet for the 20th edition of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon in the wee hours of Friday morning and Ethiopia's Getaneh Tamire Molla and Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich marked the landmark occasion by clinching the men's and women's titles respectively.
And fittingly, with the weather playing ball, both Molla and Ruth went on to eclipse the course record over the 42.195km distance.
Molla, who turned 25 earlier this month, clocked two hours, three minutes and 34 seconds to break countryman Mosinet Geremew mark of 2:04:00 seconds, which was set last year.
And while Molla paced his race perfectly, Ruth, also 25, went all out by leading from start to finish.
In the process, Ruth went on to smash the course record by almost two minutes.
Ruth, who looked like she could run all day, timed two hours, 17 minutes and eight seconds. The previous benchmark of Roza Dereje of Ethiopia, also set last year, stood at 2:19:17 seconds.
It was also Ruth's personal best and she also became the third fastest women marathoner after she had been seventh previously. Ruth's earlier best had been 2:18:35 set in Istanbul last year.
Meanwhile, it was a clean sweep in the men's segment with Ethiopia's Herpassa Negasa Kitesa and Asefa Mengstu Negewo, who was fourth here last year, finishing second and third respectively.
Back to the women's section, 2017 champion Worknesh Degefa and Workenesh Edesa Gurmesa, both from Ethiopia, were second and third respectively.
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