Stage set for Bahrain Royal Night Half-Marathon

TDT | Manama                         

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

The third Bahrain Royal Night Half-Marathon takes place this evening under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The prestigious event, organised in collaboration with the Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA), gets underway at 7pm from Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Nearly 1,000 runners, both men and women, are set to compete in the event, including more than 30 of the world’s best elite athletes. The half-marathon is a Label Race being held as part of the World Athletics Label Road Races calendar.

A staggering prize purse of more than US$200,000 is up for grabs amongst the elite men and women. The pre-event technical meeting took place last night, conducted by race surveyor Ahmed Al Tanani from Morocco, who has been nominated by World Athletics, international track and field’s governing body, along with BAA technical manager Tahar Righi.

A number of the elite athletes taking part were also on hand, including six of Bahrain’s best long-distance runners, including Rose Chelimo, Violah Jepchumba, Bontu Edao Rebitu, Dawit Fikadu, Abraham Cheroben and Joshua Lemushen Nakeri.

The men’s and women’s winners get U.S.$30,000 apiece, while the runners-up each get U.S.$20,000. The third-placers take home U.S.$15,000 apiece, while the rest of the top 10 elite men and women also come away with prize money. Furthermore, there is a bonus of US$20,000 for breaking the half-marathon world record.