Promoting health and wellness in the workplace and community

For Dubai Holding Skyrun 2022, now in its 17^th edition, we are proud to have launched Dubai’s only official stairclimbing race and the world’s first ever Stairclimbing World Championships by the International Skyrunning Federation (ISF). 

A run up the 52 floors, 1334 steps, and 265 meters of the business tower of the iconic Jumeirah Emirates Towers, it is an accredited race supported by the Dubai Sports Council and for the second year, a key highlight of the Dubai Fitness Challenge.

Dubai Holding Skyrun 2022 witnessed the participation of nearly 250 runners, including 12 teams, 19 international elite runners and 81 female runners. A truly diverse group, participants represented 40 nationalities, with the youngest runner aged 16 and the oldest, 78. A new course record was set at the race by the fastest elite male runner, Soh Wai Ching, who completed the course in 6 minutes 52 seconds while the fastest female elite runner, Yuri Yoshizumi, finished in 8 minutes 14 seconds.

Proceeds from Dubai Holding Skyrun 2022 have been donated to Al Jalila Foundation’s Majlis Al Amal, the UAE’s first-of-its-kind community centre dedicated to the wellbeing of female cancer patients and survivors.

Dubai Holding has partnered with DEKA, a brand-new style of a fitness competition that made its debut outside of the United States for the first time and chose the United Arab Emirates as home for its overseas challenges. Proudly presented by Dubai Holding and from the creators of Spartan, DEKA is a decathlon of functional fitness that competitors with different fitness levels can participate in as the competition has been designed to be basic, simple and utilitarian.

Dubai Holding sponsored the four DEKA events taking place in the UAE – the three qualifying events (DEKA Strong, DEKA Mile and DEKA Fit) respectively as well as the DEKA Trifecta event where winners of the three challenges are awarded the DEKA Middle East Championship.

Our partnership with DEKA strengthens the Emirate’s strategy to attract global events and further amplifies the Group’s commitment to sustainable development that encourages the health and wellbeing of communities. DEKA events have taken place across some of our various business and retail destinations including Central Park Towers, DIFC; Al Seef; Dubai Design District and The Outlet Village.

We are one of the founding partners of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon - Dubai’s official marathon. We are proud to have supported it for 12 consecutive years and  played an integral role in its journey and growth to what it is today.

Our commitment to this globally renowned Marathon is demonstrated by the fact that we  fielded the largest corporate team every year since we started participating in 2008.

In 2011, we introduced the UAE National Prize Category as a dedicated platform on which to recognize Emirati sporting accomplishments. It covers the top three male and female UAE National winners in the 10km, 42km and wheelchair categories. Since then, this initiative has been embracing many UAE talents and raising awareness of health and wellness within the Emirati community leading to a positive impact- especially on the younger generation.

In 2020, we have launched ‘#MyCity_My Race’ campaign to continue championing UAE National participation by calling for male and female Emiratis with all fitness levels to take the pride and join the city’s signature fitness event along with the country’s professional athletes and elite runners.

This year’s edition witnessed the highest number of Emirati participants since the introduction of the prize category. It also confirmed 325% increase over the past 9 years. The campaign has inspired 30% more Emiratis to take part across all categories versus 2019. The most significant increase was in the 10km by an impressive 61% compared with last year.

Dubai Holding is proud to present Dubai’s most scenic swimming event ‘Dubai Holding Burj Al Arab Swim’! Set against a magnificent backdrop, this race is the only chance to swim around the iconic Burj Al Arab Jumeirah.

A fun-filled community event with emphasis on health and fitness, the Dubai Holding Burj Al Arab Swim is one of the most popular fundraising events in the Emirates since the first swim in 2002.

All funds raised are donated to Al Jalila Foundation Obesity Research Fund to support obesity research and work towards awareness, education and treatment of obesity in the UAE. Nearly 700 participants of all abilities participate in 1600 meters or 800 meters swim organised by Wild Wadi in partnership with Jumeirah Group.

As part of our ongoing partnership with the UAE-based action sports brand XDubai, for the fourth year in a row Dubai Holding has been the presenting partner of the 2020 edition of the popular XYoga Dubai festival. The emirate’s largest yoga festival took place on 21-22 February 2020 at the ever-popular Kite Beach in Dubai.

Set against the iconic Burj Al Arab Jumeirah Hotel, XYoga Dubai attracted over 20,000 yogis over two full days of classes and workshops, which are designed for yogis of all ages, fitness goals and abilities. The festival featured more than 60 diversified yoga sessions led by internationally acclaimed yogis. XYoga 2020 was inaugurated by Bollywood film actress and model Esha Gupta.

The second edition of the highly-anticipated XDubai Spartan Race kicked-off on November 2018. The competition pushes ‘Spartans’ to tackle a challenging terrain comprising obstacles, barbed wires and rope ladders – among others – across Hatta’s beautiful landscape. The three races, Spartan Sprint, Spartan Super and Spartan Kids, vary in distance and difficulty to accommodate participants of all fitness levels and age groups. Organised by Spartan Arabia and Dubai Sports Council (DSC), and sponsored by XDubai and Dubai Holding, the race took place on November 16, 2018 at the majestic Hatta Mountain Bike Trail Centre in Dubai.

XDubai Spartan Race is the second event to be hosted under the partnership between Dubai Holding and XDubai. This wellness-focused collaboration was created to encourage people from across the UAE to lead a healthier and happier lifestyle, extending the scope and influence of Dubai Holding’s award-winning Wellness Programme. Dubai Holding is also proud to be the recipient of ‘The Largest Contingent’ title for the 2017 edition of XDubai Spartan Race.

Dubai Holding Heroes supports employees in their personal endeavour of physically challenging expeditions. Every six months, 10 employees from across the Group are selected through a panel to undertake their expedition of choice.

The Programme encourages adventures such as climbing mountains, arctic expeditions, international marathons etc. Dubai Holding Heroes provides employee with an opportunity to fulfil their dreams outside the corporate environment.

The programme began in November 2016 with an expedition to Mt. Kilimanjaro Tanzania in aid of Al Jalila Foundation to mark the 45th UAE National Day.

From 2011 - 2014, Dubai Holding employees have taken part in The Global Corporate Challenge, a leading global corporate health initiative aimed at creating a positive health culture in the workplace. The programme encourages participants to take 10,000 steps per day on a virtual walking journey around the world over 100 days. Friendly competition from over 45,000 fellow teams from around the globe keep participants motivated in completing the challenge.

In 2014, 917 Dubai Holding employees from the corporate office and portfolio companies took part in the challenge for the fifth consecutive time. Together, Dubai Holding team recorded a total distance of 709,517km, which equates to walking around the world 17.7 times and burning nearly 45 million calories.

Since 2011, Dubai Holding supported the Dubai Women’s Run, Dubai’s first road race dedicated to women. In 2013, Dubai Holding introduced the UAE National Category to recognise the fastest Emirati women in the race, and awarded cash prizes to the top three runners in each of the 5K and 10K races. Additionally, Dubai Holding awards cash prizes to the ten fastest runners in both races as part of our sponsorship of the event.

The UAE National category was created as part of Dubai Holding’s Corporate Wellness Programme, and is a natural progression from its support of the UAE National Category at the Dubai Marathon each year.

In 2014, Dubai Holding announced title sponsorship of Dubai Women’s Run. Following this sponsorship, the race was renamed to Dubai Holding Women’s Run. This sponsorship is reflective of our commitment to empowering women through sports.