In its relatively brief history (the race was first held in 2000), the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon has become one of the fastest, most respected and the most lucrative marathon in the world in terms of prize money.

Each year thousands of runners take to the roads in this beautiful city in the United Arab Emirates for this extraordinary race starting next to the Burj Khalifa in downtown Dubai. The course and the race is so fast that when Ethiopian great Haile Gebreselassie won in 2008, his time was the second fastest in marathon history -- and since then seven other runners have bettered his time!