With as many as 2,400 runners, the sixth edition of Ooredoo Doha Marathon will begin on Friday (January 12) from the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA).
A host of internationally-renowned athletes, including multiple Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah, will be joined by enthusiastic runners from across Qatar’s communities.
The Ooredoo Doha Marathon will begin at 6:30am and end at 11:30am, and all roads following the Corniche will be closed during this time.
To ensure the safety of spectators, organisers have requested that all visitors not participating, stand to the side of the road along the Corniche, or at the Finish and Starting line in MIA Park.
As part of the Ooredoo’s vision to encourage more people to get fit and active, the company, in partnership with Qatar Tourism Authority, arranged a host of activities this week.
To inspire Qatar’s children to live a more active life, some of the top international athletes visited Qatar Academy Primary School yesterday, and spoke about the determination it takes to be a professional athlete and rewards this brings.
A selected number of lucky Aspire Academy students were given the chance to take part in a training session with the athletes, led by Farah. The Marathon Master Class covered a host of subjects, such as warm-ups, pre-race preparation and stamina.
To ensure that Qatar’s communities had the chance to take part in the Ooredoo Doha Marathon preparations, the athletes also took part in a special ‘Meet and Greet’ at the Mall of Qatar on Wednesday night, taking the time to sign autographs, address the huge crowds and invite them all to attend the event.
Speaking about the Ooredoo Doha Marathon, Ooredoo CEO Waleed al-Sayed said, “Ooredoo is deeply grateful to such world-class athletes for taking the time to visit some of the schools in Qatar and people from across our country’s communities. We believe that Qatar will soon be an internationally renowned sporting destination and we want to help nurture and inspire local talent to take part in this growth.
“We wish everyone the best of luck in today’s race – whether you’re a seasoned runner, or a beginner and thank you all for helping us show the world that #UnitedWeRun.”
This year’s marathon will once again feature courses for runners of all abilities, including a 10km run, half-marathon, full marathon and a special children’s 1km fun run.
Prizes will be awarded to the best runners in a range of categories, based on age and gender.
As a special incentive for participants, Ooredoo has also announced that Nojoom members will be rewarded with 300 Nojoom Points for every kilometre they complete at the event. Terms and conditions for the same and event details are available on the Ooredoo Qatar website.
