Butti Al Nuaimi of the UAE won the 50km Al Marmoom Ultramarathon, which was held on Friday morning inside Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve.

Organised by FittGROUP with the support of Dubai Sports Council, the challenging race had attracted some top endurance runners representing 44 different nationalities, but Al Nuaimi proved to be a class apart, winning by a margin of more than 22 minutes.

The Emirati clocked five hours and four seconds to finish way ahead of Kenya’s Paul Komo Kaganjo (5:22:26), while Russia’s Grigori Savva (5:31:37) came in third.

In the 5km men’s race, the Emirati duo Mohammed Al Hassani (17:13) and Hamad Al Zeyoudi (17:52) took the second and third spot behind winner Paul Ngugi Muturi (16:46) of Kenya.

There was an Emirati podium finisher in the men’s 10km run as well, with Nasser Al Hilali (54:38) taking third spot behind Alvin Riva (52:40) and Daniel Abungu (54:35).

Natalia Lifiti (57:04) won the women’s 10km race, finishing ahead of Sally Baker (57:50) and Lea Maesseele (01:00:31), while Diana Zakharchenko (20:31) bagged the top honours in the women’s 5km, finishing ahead of Diana Gagitidze (22:06) and Joanna Thomas (27:02).

All participants in the race received finisher medals, while the top three in each category, male and female, were presented with trophies.

The race was held in accordance with all precautionary measures approved by the official authorities in Dubai, as well as the protocols for approved events, which have been developed by Dubai Sports Council and circulated to all organizers of sporting events.

The Al Marmoom Ultramarathon is the latest addition to a growing segment of events which are being organized due to increasing demand for endurance runs in the desert. Such events attract a large number of participants of all age and abilities, professionals and amateurs, as well as fitness enthusiasts.