Road closures for Dubai Marathon on Friday

The three-race event will effect Jumeirah Road, Umm Suqeim Road, Al Wasl Road, and King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Road (formerly Al Sufouh).

Runners take part in the 2015 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon. Francois Nel / Getty Images

DUBAI // Roads will be closed around Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim and Al Sufouh for the Dubai Marathon on Friday.

The three-race event will effect Jumeirah Road, Umm Suqeim Road, Al Wasl Road and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street (formerly Al Sufouh).

The 42-kilometre race will start at 6.30am from Umm Suqeim Street near Madinat Jumeirah and the Burj Al Arab hotel and finish in the same location.

The 10km race starts at 9am and the 4km Fun-Run starts at 11am.

The affected streets will be closed to traffic from 6am to 12pm but will be opened gradually behind the last runner from 9am.

The marathon will continue up Umm Suqeim Street toward Madinat Jumeirah and veer left on to King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street, where participants will continue to Dubai Media City before doubling back shortly after the entrance to Palm Jumeirah.

Runners will continue on to Jumeirah Road until they pass the Union House Flag, where they will reverse direction for the second time, eventually making a right back onto Umm Suqeim Road for the home stretch.

Participants of the 10km Road Race will only run the Umm Suqeim and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud roads portion of the marathon, while the route of the Fun Run will pass through Abdullah Omran Taryam Street in Al Sufouh area.

Organisers have advised runners not to drive to or park near the start and finish lines, and to avoid traffic congestion by parking in Al Barsha area near Mall of the Emirates.

One of the greatest distance runners of all time and a pre-race favourite, Kenenisa Bekele, is hoping to better his time from last year’s Berlin Marathon, where he came within six seconds of the world record.

The Ethiopian could walk away with the additional US$250,000 (Dh918,050) on offer for the world record, along with the winner’s cheque of $200,000 (Dh734,600).