Thousands take part in Al Mouj Muscat Marathon

Muscat: The 8th edition of the Al Mouj Muscat Marathon took place over the weekend, with more than 4,500 runners participating in the two-day event.
Day one of the marathon took place on Friday, January 18, 2019, and included a 42-kilometre marathon with 318 runners, a 21-kilometre half marathon with 751 runners and a 10-kilometre run with 1,498 participants.
The men’s marathon was led by the largest number of elite long-distance athletes ever gathered in Oman.
The winner was Kenyan national Ronald Korir, winning in a time of two hours, 13 minutes and 36 seconds. He finished ahead of his countryman John Langat at 2:15:41 and Uganda’s Jackson Kiprop at 2:15:43.
The women’s marathon was won by Ethiopia’s Gada Bontu in 2:36:04, a time quick enough to earn her the ninth place overall, ahead of Kenya’s Lucy Ndungu (2:42:07) and Asnakech Mengistu representing Ethiopia (2:43:03).
The half-marathon witnessed a neck and neck finish between Moroccan athletes Noaman Elassaoui and Bouazzaoui Abdelali, with Elassaoui taking victory by less than a second in 1:10:52. Iran’s Morteza Beiravand stood third.
Victory went to Bilarab Al Hamhami in 34:29 for the 10k race, ahead of Iran’s Mohammad Bagheritajamir, with Omani runner Naser Al Kamashki taking the third spot on the podium.
The women’s race was won by Brazil’s Cristina Ferraz in 47:33, with Kristin Westby coming second and Gerd Inger Brunborg third.
Day two of the event continued on Saturday with a 5k Charity Fun Run, which attracted over 2,000 participants and the Kids Run.
Omani runner Obaid Al Jabri won the first place in the 5K charity run, while Nathan Byford won the first place in the 3K kids run.