Many talented athletes across the UAE are dusting off their spikes as the Ultimate Racenight Championship is set to get underway on Thursday, October 29.
The league – which normally consists of five meets from November to May – was cancelled amid the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
Instead, Ultimate Athletics will host a stand-alone championship, with medals handed out to the top-three from each race category.
Training has been going ahead as normal since Sports City reopened their facilities in June, as per public health guidelines, giving children of various ages something to look forward to.
Three hundred people are expected to compete, with athletes from Al Ahli Club, Middlesex University and OCR among others.
Of the athletes to watch, Dannish-Walker Khan, who clocked a personal best of 10.49 secs for the 100m, will compete in both 60m and 100m events.
Formerly trained by Great Britain legend Linford Christie, Khan was part of a star-studded England relay team of Adam Gemili, Deji Tobais and Danny Talbot that achieved European U23 4x100m success back in 2013.
Another sprinter expected to shine in the Senior 100m is Krtajna Prem. The 18-year-old is unbeaten in the UAE and holds a personal best of 10.88 secs for the 100m.
Credit: Melissa Lear Photography
In the hurdles, world number one 400m athlete for his age category, Andy Clements, is set to feature in the 60m hurdles.
The 37-year-old competed in the 800m at the Ultimate Athletics Racenight last November, recording a winning time of 1 minute 57 minutes.
In the 800m, an in-form Ingrid Feliza Fuglestad achieved a recent personal best of 2 mins 17 secs and will be eyeing further success in the U-17 category.
Scotsman Ross MacDonald is the one to beat in the senior men’s 800m. He ran 2 mins 04 secs at the last racenight before the pandemic struck and has the potential to break 2 mins next Thursday.
In the field events, another man set to light up Sports City is Kaan Tosun. The 16-year-old GEMS Wellington student unleashed a recent personal best throw of 16.14 metres for the shot put.
The cost for the racenight next Thursday is kept at a low Dh26.25 for relay and Dh42 for individual events, promising to be an enjoyable evening.
If you want to get involved in track and field, training is held at Dubai Sports City and the Armed Officers Club in Abu Dhabi throughout the week. For more information, visit: ultimateathleticsuae.com
