Kenya's Martin Lel is one of the favourites for the Dubai Marathon.
Kenya's Martin Lel is one of the favourites for the Dubai Marathon.

Draw of Burj Khalifa sees organisers extend $1m Dubai Marathon entry deadline



Organisers have extended the entry deadline for the 2012 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon after a rush of late interest in the US$1million (Dh3.67m) race on January 27.

Athletes of all abilities will now have an extra two weeks to sign up for the marathon, 10km and 3km runs.

"We have enforced online registration for the first time and, while it is going very well with figures well up on previous years, there will always be those runners who get caught up in the Christmas and New Year holiday excitement and simply forget to enter," said event director Peter Marathon.

The marathon has a new route though downtown Dubai, starting opposite the Burj Khalifa. That is another reason organisers think has led to an increased number of entries, with 13,000 runners already registered..

"The Burj Khalifa is a global icon and I think many runners would love to say they have taken part in a race that takes place in the shadow of such an international symbol," said Ahmed Al Kamali, president of the UAE Athletic Federation, IAAF council member and general co-ordinator of the region's first IAAF Gold Label race.

Martin Lel, the Kenyan, is one of the favourites for the $250,000 first prize. The 33-year-old has won the London marathon three times and the New York Marathon twice.

For more information on how to enter, visit www.dubaimarathon.org.

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

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