Fast flat course taking in most areas of interest in the city. Water stations reguarly placed and well attended. No race expo, poor quality T shirt and medal. Vey few spectators on route but well marshalled by police. Gets warm as morning progresses.

As I was entering my 50th year I thought that it was about time I ran a Marathon....As I work in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, I was used to the heat and I had been running in shorter distance runs. I trained fairly well and made the trip to Dubai to coincide with a vacation in Oman. I met a couple of people I knew from Saudi at the start and off we went on a wonderful clear morning. The course was very well laid out, with the traffic police doing a great job!!.I finished in 3h16m, and was completely knackered!!...but it was a great run.Pity about the T shirt!!

This is one of the small marathons where you get to chat with the people you pass (or who pass you), everything is cozy and by the end you think you know all participants. The course is flat and fast, drinks (no food) are a-plenty (if somehow irregular) and for me, who has lived in Dubai some ten years ago, it was a good way to see the places I knew from before. Only bitter pill, like in many of the small runs: They don't seem to get the marking right - what is so difficult about marking the distance correctly? - But all in all it was a great run and the special atmosphere of the orient was felt, if you had the time for it...