Press Release - Dubai Marathon - 1/12/08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 GOLDEN GIRL ADERE TARGETS GLORY IN 2008 STANDARD CHARTERED DUBAI MARATHON 

- Chicago Marathon Winner & UNICEF Ambassador to Lock Horns with Kiplagat -
 
Dubai (UAE): Dubai is set to witness a true battle of the thoroughbreds at 
the $2 million Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on Friday (January 18) 
with two world champions set to go head- to-head in the battle for the 
$250,000 first prize in the ladies marathon.

While Haile Gebrselassie will be aiming to beat his own World Record in the 
men's event and lift the $1 million bonus, the women's field is the 
strongest ever seen in Dubai and certainly reflects the event's standing as 
the richest race in history for female distance runners.

Holland's Kenyan-born star Lornah Kiplagat currently holds the world's best 
times for both the 20km and the half-marathon and was crowned world cross 
country champion in her original homeland of Kenya ten months ago. Yet 
despite that glittering track record, she faces one of the toughest 
competitors in distance running in the shape of 34 year-old Ethiopian 
Berhane Adere who has also thrown her hat into the ring.

Held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice 
President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, and staged under 
the aegis of the Dubai Sports Council, the 2008 Standard Chartered Dubai 
Marathon will see Kiplagat up against another world champion with a record 
equally as impressive as her own.

"For the last two years, Adere has won the Chicago Marathon and comes to 
Dubai with a high-class pedigree of performances both on road and on the 
track." said Event Director Peter Connerton.

A gold and two silvers at 10,000m in the World Championships as well as 
World Indoor and World Cup titles over 3,000m underline her class. Her 
first World Championship silver came in Edmonton in 2001 before she 
clinched gold over 10,000m in Paris in 2003. Two years later it was silver 
again in Helsinki when a 60-second final lap wasn't enough to deny 
compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba the title. 

Adere hasn't limited herself to running, however, and also works for the UN 
as a goodwill ambassador in Africa attempting to teach women and children 
the value of education. 

"Sports can have a dramatic impact on a person's life – I am a living 
witness of that," she said. "When I stop running I want to do more with 
education," she said. "It is very important for both women and for 
children."

Her marathon best of 2:20:42 is just under two minutes quicker than 
Kiplagat's personal best but it will surely count for nothing when it comes 
down to the head-to-head and the race for the winner's cheque of $250,000 
in a race which offers a combined prize-fund for men and women of $1 
million.

"Lornah and Berhane are just two supreme athletes in what is a powerful 
field of women's distance runners," added event General Co-ordinator Ahmad 
Al Kamali. "Both the men's and women's events will be wonderful to watch."

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