Thousands take part in Ooredoo Marathon

More than 3,000 people have taken part of this year’s Ooredoo Marathon, a fund-raising event to benefit “Reach Out to Asia,” the company said in a statement.The event was highlighted by a full marathon, half-marathon, 10km, and 5km runs, in addition to two special children’s 1km and 3km fun runs. Hundreds of people lined the streets of Doha to cheer on the runners and urged them to the reach finish line. The route took participants from Katara up to the Museum of Islamic Art Park. Ooredoo director of Public and Community Relations Fatima Sultan al-Kuwari said: “We wanted to make this year’s marathon bigger, faster, and better and all the feedback suggests that we have succeeded. We’ve seen more participants and more support across Doha and we’re confident that this year’s event will raise more money for charity than ever before.”She said the marathon saw participants from a diverse range of ages, nationalities, and background with a number of professional sportspeople running alongside those taking part in their first marathon. All funds raised from the marathon will be donated to Reach Out to Asia for their work in Qatar and across Asia, al-Kuwari said. Hundreds of children took part in the 3km and 1km fun runs and were joined by Ooredoo’s mascots, the Alrabaa, who cheered the kids on as they ran. “In all, it was an excellent day out for the whole family and demonstrated Ooredoo’s strong commitment to community health and fitness,” added al-Kuwari, who presented the winners with prizes in a special ceremony at the end of the race. The Ooredoo Marathon 2015 was sponsored by Qatar Airways, Hamad Medical Corporation Kulluna, Sports Corner, Reach Out to Asia, Katara, and Baraem TV. Ooredoo launched the marathon in 2013 and continues to support it as an annual event to promote health and fitness in Qatar. Support for the marathon forms part of a wider strategy that involves grassroots sponsorship and community engagement, designed to encourage more people to get involved in sport.Runners take off from the starting line.