Official 2016 Dubai Marathon Live Discussion Thread

$200,000 is a great incentive.

NYC and Chicago should go this route and imitate Dubai by offering massive prize amounts and zero for appearance fees.

9:30 pm here in the East.

I will be in front of my computer watching this.

Pretty amazing that technology has advanced so much that this is possible.

Geri wrote:

$200,000 is a great incentive.

NYC and Chicago should go this route and imitate Dubai by offering massive prize amounts and zero for appearance fees.

Why??

Desisa for the win. That's my pick! Remember must see TV on thursdays? The regular thursday TV programming is garbage now. Thank goodness for this marathon at 7:30 PST!

big coffee drinker wrote:

Desisa for the win. That's my pick! Remember must see TV on thursdays? The regular thursday TV programming is garbage now. Thank goodness for this marathon at 7:30 PST!

Ummmm. 930 ET is 630 PST

Sorry to inform that Ayele Abshero can't run, because in the last week had typhous, with fever till 41. This is a very bad news for him, since he had perfect preparation and was in his best shape.

Also Tsegaye Kebede is not in the field. He had some minor problem in one leg, so preferred to have some time for recovering the total efficiency trying to be ready for running fast again.

Geri wrote:

$200,000 is a great incentive.

NYC and Chicago should go this route and imitate Dubai by offering massive prize amounts and zero for appearance fees.

No TOP LEVEL Kenyan or Ethiopian runner would travel to the US for a chance to win $200k.

There would be a bunch of 2nd tier runners from over there (around 2:06 PR) that would battle it out.

Americans do not need to apply.

That's why this will never happen again.

Renato Canova wrote:

Sorry to inform that Ayele Abshero can't run, because in the last week had typhous, with fever till 41. This is a very bad news for him, since he had perfect preparation and was in his best shape.

Also Tsegaye Kebede is not in the field. He had some minor problem in one leg, so preferred to have some time for recovering the total efficiency trying to be ready for running fast again.

Thank you, Renato.

Geri wrote:

$200,000 is a great incentive.

NYC and Chicago should go this route and imitate Dubai by offering massive prize amounts and zero for appearance fees.

I agree.

People would be more interested in the races if their was huge prize money at stake, you would get people who are not hard core fans interested in watching, because of the money at stake, more people watching = better ratings = more money = huge prize money = more people interested in the sport = running being a big sport and not just during the Olympics.

Hopefully they have the drone cams covering like they did last year. Pretty cool shots of the lead pack... puts the race in context with the crazy dubai buildings and such in the background.

I really doubt that all the pros who show up at the Dubai marathon do not get a penny if they do not finish in the top 10. I strongly suspect that there is a substantial financial arrangement with the managers of the athletes who are appearing instead of the traditional appearance fee per athlete. There is no way that almost 40 elite E. Africans (mostly Ethiopians) would show up to a race where only 1 in 4 will actually get paid. I would guess that the managers are offered a big check in exchange for bringing X number of top runners. This keeps the race from having to blow all their money on the top few runners with appearance fees negotiated per athlete. They probably just leave it to the manager to distribute that money instead of negotiating with each athlete individually. The prize money for the marathon is chicken change for Dubai. It is how much young princes spend in a week partying in the French Riviera. I bet that an equal or greater amount is given directly to managers to bring athletes.

Agree $200,000 is a great prize. Unfortunately it just shows how overpaid football (soccer) players are. Wayne Rooney earns this in just over 2 days ($450,000 per week). The amount of training they do is a joke compared to long distance runners. Plus he's useless.

Precious Roy, you are wrong. Really there are not appearances. In 2012, Wendimu was number 11 in 2:07, and went home with a t-shirt...

The fact is Dubai is the fastest course in the World. Perfect tarmac, no turns, normally very good weather around 15 C, very even during the competition, and, being at the beginning of the season, considered the best option by Ethiopian runners, since Ethiopian Federation normally choses the athletes for the Championships (or Olympics) looking at the best 3 times, and, if in shape, there is no place where it's possible to run so fast.

The lack of appearance can also explain why Dubai is the most important Marathon for beginners, who can't have appearances in other Marathon.

An athlete running 2:06 can also win a small prize (in 2012, Seboka Tola was n. 9 with 2:06:17 and won 5000 USD), but at the end has a time allowing him to be invited in the most part of top Marathon (Majors apart).

In 2012, 2013 and 2014, how you can see in the presentation of the race in LR, the winners were at their first Marathon, and practically Hayle Lemi, last year, was in the same situation, having run one small Marathon only before Dubai.

Renato,

Thanks for the update. Are you still coaching K Bekele? Is his entry into London a sign that things have turned around for him?

We'd love to have an update.

-Rojo

The thing I've never understood about Dubai is why some 2:10 guy would show up there. Do they really think they are going to run 2:05? You'd think you'd find some race where 2:10 would win you 20k. Americans don't go from 2:10 to 2:05 - maybe Ethiopians do?

In case you didn't realize it, the women's preview is up as well:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2016/01/2016-dubai-marathon-womens-preview-lrcs-2014-world-1-tirfi-tsegaye-faces-second-fastest-10000-runner-ever-meselech-melkamu-plus-former-champs-mulu-seboka-mamitu-daska/

Renato, who is your pick to win in Dubai tonight?

Hello Renato wrote:

Renato, who is your pick to win in Dubai tonight?

I imagine Renato is still sleeping.

When I got up this morning and re-read the DUbai preview, the thing that struck me was this sick thought, "Wow this is the perfect race where it would make sense to just dope, dope, dope and pick up $200,000."

I wish the WMM would make Dubai a major. Then they would be part of the OOC testing that the WMM pays for. The Abbott World Marathon Majors testing, which was announced last year I believe, is something that hasn't gotten nearly the amount of publicity that it deserves.

No word on what the pacers are supposed to go out at?

disappointed to hear that Kebede won't be running. makes the race a little less interesting for me.