ABU DHABI // Thousands of runners took to the capital's Formula One racetrack yesterday for the second annual Adnic Yas Run.
More than 2,600 people registered for the event on Yas Island, with four categories including 1km and 3km youth races as well as a 10km individual race and relay for adults.
Among the runners were more than 400 participants from the Abu Dhabi Police, a race spokeswoman said.
Yesterday's male and female winners were Outaleb Mouchine, from Morocco, with a time of 29:32 and Jane Kangara, from Kenya, with a time of 34:43.
The race, held for the first time last year, is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (Adnic).
The first runner to register this Spring was Dan Marsh, 36, an Abu Dhabi resident from the UK.
Mr Marsh, an avid runner for more than a decade, had been sidelined by an Achilles tendon injury and was unable to sign up for last year's race.
"I was probably out for a good eight to 10 months," he said. He has eased his way back into the sport, and competed in several 10k and half-marathon races recently.
Mr Marsh added that it will be his first time on the Yas Marina Circuit. "I'm looking forward to telling my parents back home that I've run around the Yas track," he said.
Lorenzo Fiorucci, an Abu Dhabi resident, said he was looking forward to the views. "It's a nice event, there's a lot of people and the course is very, very scenic," said Mr Fiorucci, 37, a regular runner from Italy.
"I think it's going to be quite busy also. I'm not looking for anything like winning, or a personal best - just for fun."
Ten per cent of the registration fees for the event will be donated to Operation Smile UAE, a charity that offers free corrective surgeries for children with cleft palates and other facial birth defects.
Children under 15 ran in yesterday's race for free, sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
