Dubai Women’s Run 2013 to feature key elite athletes

DUBAI, UAE; October 26, 2013: This year’s Dubai Women’s Run, taking place on November 8th 2013 at Meydan Race Course, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the National Olympic Committee and supported by Dubai Holding, the global investment holding company, will welcome Kenyan long-distance track and road runner, and global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education, Tegla Chepkite Loroupe, along with a number of other renowned athletes including Raha Moharrak.

Liesa Euton, Race Director, Dubai Women's Run, commented: “The Dubai Women’s Run has become a major event in the region’s sports events calendar, as exemplified by this year’s impressive list of attendees. We look forward to welcoming great runners and even greater women to our event, as examples and inspiration for our 5000 participants expected at the race.”

Cedric Betis, Chairman of Dubai Holding Wellness Committee, added: “Supporting ambitious women to lead healthier lives is a key part of Dubai Holding’s creed and was a big driver for our continued support of the Dubai Women’s Run and the introduction of a new category that recognises the fastest Emirati women running the 5K and 10K races. We believe that wellness is achieved through balance, and many of the inspiring athletes attending this year’s event are testament to this, with their physical, social, charitable and intellectual accomplishments.”

Loroupe holds the world records for 20, 25 and 30 kilometers and previously held the World Marathon Record. She is a three-time World Half-Marathon champion and was also the first woman from Africa to win the New York City Marathon. In 2006, Laroupe was named United Nations Ambassador of Sport by Secretary General Kofi Annan, and is an International Sports Ambassador for the International Association of Athletics Federations and UNICEF. She has also created an annual series of Peace Marathons sponsored by the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation, called "Peace Through Sports". Her social work also includes establishing a school and an orphanage for children from Kapenguria, a high-mountain town in North-West Kenya.

The 2013 Dubai Women’s Run will also welcome Raha Moharrak, the youngest Arab and the first Saudi woman to climb Mount Everest. She has also successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Vinson, Mount Elbrus, Aconcagua, Kala Pattar, Pico de Orizaba and Iztaccihuatl. Other leading athletes attending the event include previous winners of the Dubai Women’s Run from the UAE, Ethiopia, Russia and Bosnia Herzegovina.

There is still time to sign up for the Dubai Women’s Run 2013 on www.dubaiwomensrun.com – registration will close on November 1st.