“Kamuror” and “Yeshanah” top the list of participants in the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon

The 19th edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon will start next Saturday, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, with the support of the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, and with the participation of an elite group of the most prominent long-distance runners on the international scene.

The organizing committee said in a press statement on Monday that this year’s edition will be held again on Al Marjan Island, in addition to organizing accompanying races for distances of 2 km, 5 km and 10 km, with wide participation from amateur and professional runners.

The 2026 race will witness a remarkable presence of front-line stars, led by Kenyan runner Geoffrey Kamworor, a three-time world champion in the half marathon, along with Ethiopian Ababil Yeshaneh, the former women’s world record holder, both of whom are former winners of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon title in the 2013 and 2020 editions, respectively.

Kamworor is considered one of the most prominent half marathon runners in the history of the game, having won three consecutive gold medals in the World Half Marathon Championships in 2014, 2016 and 2018, in addition to winning the World Cross Country Championship title twice, and achieving the New York Marathon title in 2017 and 2019.

Kamworor’s global debut began in Ras Al Khaimah in 2013, when he won the race title with a time of 58:54 minutes, breaking his personal record by more than 30 seconds. Six years later, he broke the world record for the half marathon with a time of 58:01 minutes in Copenhagen, becoming one of the fastest runners in the history of the distance, and the fastest among the participants in this year’s edition of the Ras Al Khaimah race.

For her part, Ethiopian Ababil Yeshane stands out as one of the most prominent stars in world athletics, after she recorded in the 2020 edition of the Ras Al Khaimah race a world record of 64:31 minutes, beating an elite group of the world’s best female runners, and improving the previous record by 20 seconds.

Yeshaneh began her international career in 2011 at the age of 19, and later participated in a number of the most prominent world championships, including the World Championships in Moscow in 2013, and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She was also crowned champion of the Istanbul and Buenos Aires Half Marathons, and topped the podiums in the Boston, Chicago, and New York Marathons.

Following her record achievement in Ras Al Khaimah, Yeshanah returned to participate in the race twice, as she did not complete the competition in the 2022 edition, before coming in second place in the 2024 edition with a time of 65:44 minutes.