Expo 2020 Dubai: Run to take participants through scenic route past 192 pavilions

The United Arab Emirates’ running community can get a chance to race the world when the Expo 2020 Dubai Run takes them on a scenic route through the Expo site, past 192 global pavilions.

Supported by Expo 2020 Dubai and Dubai Sports Council, the Expo 2020 Dubai Run is open to residents and visitors of all ages and nationalities, including participants in strollers, and participants can choose from three distances – 3km, 5km and 10km.

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Registration is now open now through the PremierOnline website and will close on November 11, or sooner if places sell out.

Participants in the three categories will be divided into different age groups, with four age groups available in the 3km run: 0-8 years, 9-12 years, 13-18 years and 19-plus; eight in the 5km: Under-13, 13-15, 16-18, 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and 60-plus; and six in the 10km: U-19, 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-plus.

To get in top shape for the event on November 19, participants can take part in four, free-of-cost ‘Expo 2020 Dubai Run the World Family Run,’ which is also open to participants of all age and nationality and offers a family-friendly 1.3km run through Ghaf Avenue.

The Run the World Family Run, which is supported by Dubai Sports Council, takes place every Saturday from October 9 to 30, and those interested can register through the PremierOnline website.

Dubai Sports Council, in association with AIS Athletics, has also organized a series of free-of-cost morning and evening training sessions throughout the month of October, delivered by experienced middle and long distance coaches. Open to participants of all age and abilities, the Expo Running Club will also take place at the Expo Park from October 3-6, October 10-13, October 17-20, and October 24-27.

Football and more

Dubai Sports Council, along with its partners, has planned a number of other events including the 16th Dubai International Sports Conference (disk), a Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative, which will take place alongside Dubai Globe Soccer Awards in the last week of December; the FIDE World Chess Championship 2021 that will see reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen battle challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, between November 24 and December 16; and the Hamdan Bin Rashid Masters International Chess Championship will be held concurrently.

An aerial view of one of the Expo 2020 Dubai sites, UAE. (Twitter/HHShkMohd)

Dubai International Sports Conference, one of football’s main brainstorming platforms, has been bringing football’s top stakeholders together to Dubai since 2006 for extensive discussions on challenges facing the ever-evolving world of football, while finding ways to develop and enrich the sport at the domestic, regional and international level.

Since its launch, the conference has welcomed more than 400 international and national speakers and moderators, including some of the biggest names in football like FIFA President His Excellency Gianni Infantino, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentine magician Lionel Messi, and French legend Zinedine Zidane, and the late Argentine legend Diego Maradona.

The council has also confirmed that the awards ceremony of the 11th Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award will take place on January 9, 2022.

A Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative, the MBR Creative Sports Award is one of the leading initiatives of its kind in the world in terms of categories and prize money, and the 11th edition of the Award will see Emirati and Arab heroes from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games being honored at the glittering ceremony.

Dubai will also be hosting more than 30 international sports events during the Expo 2020 period, across the Emirate, including the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cup qualifiers in October and November, and cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup, which will feature 16 nations and take place between October 17 and November 14.

One of the first global mega-events to take place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Expo 2020 Dubai will run from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, and will see millions of visitors join in a six-month celebration of human creativity, innovation, progress and culture.

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