My marathons

Abu Dhabi Marathon

06:006:00 AM Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
© OpenStreetMap Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Photograph by giggel, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons . Course line © OpenStreetMap contributors

The course

Pick a place, or drag along the profile

Flat from start to finish: 4 m between the lowest and the highest point.

StartFinish

© OpenStreetMap contributors

  1. Photo: Валерий Дед, CC BY 3.0
  5. Photo: Radosław Botev, CC BY 3.0 pl
  7. Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France, CC BY 2.0

km 2.2mile 1.4

Capital Gate

The leaning tower beside the course.

Height drawn many times taller than life. Heights: GEDTM30.

Course elevation profile, 8× vertical exaggeration Elevation along the course from km 0 to km 42. The trace runs between 3 and 7 metres, a range of 4 metres, drawn at 8 times vertical exaggeration so the shape is legible. Smoothed over 1 km before this profile was derived. An unsmoothed urban surface carries the buildings and would assert a climb that is not there. The dashed stretches are bridge decks: شارع الشيخ راشد بن سعيد, km 26.7 to 27.3; شارع الشيخ راشد بن سعيد, km 32.7 to 33.4. A bare-earth model reads the ground or the water beneath a bridge, not the deck the runner is on, so those runs are interpolated between the ground either side rather than measured, and they under-report the real climb across a span.
0 10 20 30 40 km
0 10 20 26.2 mi

Dashed: bridge

  • flat all the way

Your 5 gels, at the orange marksFor a 4:00 finish, one every 40 minutes

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Get them on AmazonAmazon partner link

The course in short 3 lines
  • Under seven metres above the sea, start to finishThe course never leaves the coastal plain: 3.8 m from its lowest point to its highest.
  • Out to the Corniche and back to the mosqueA single loop: Capital Gate early, the island at halfway, the Grand Mosque at km 39.
  • A finish that finishes level with the startThe last 2 km do not climb: they hold within 0.2 m of the finish's own level.
Course notes 3 short reads on the course
km 0 to 42.2GradientUnder seven metres above the sea, start to finishThe course never leaves the coastal plain: 3.8 m from its lowest point to its highest.

This is a coastal-plain course with no real hill. The road runs between 2.9 m and 6.7 m above sea level: 3.8 m from the lowest point to the highest. The low point is at km 11.9. The high point comes 3.3 km later, at km 15.2, and is the only place where the road sits above 6 m; 94% of the course is at 5 m or lower.

In all, the marathon climbs 17.9 m. A watch on the day will count more small rises than this, from underpasses and ramps. These figures are for the organiser’s 2025 course.

Measured

km 0 to 42.2LandmarkOut to the Corniche and back to the mosqueA single loop: Capital Gate early, the island at halfway, the Grand Mosque at km 39.

It is one loop, with the start and the finish both at Zayed Sports City. Capital Gate, the leaning tower, is within 122 m of the road near km 2.2. The course then runs out to the water and reaches the island around halfway, where the old fort of Qasr Al Hosn, at km 21.7, is within about 300 m of the road.

The way home takes in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. At km 38.8 the road wraps the mosque precinct on three sides, with 3.4 km left to the finish. This is the organiser’s 2025 course; no 2026 course had been published by 11 October 2026.

Measured

km 38.8 to 42.2FinishA finish that finishes level with the startThe last 2 km do not climb: they hold within 0.2 m of the finish's own level.

There is nothing to climb at the end. The course leaves the Grand Mosque at 4.6 m above sea level, eases down to 3.5 m by km 40 and then holds within 0.2 m of that level for the last 2.2 km. The finish, at 3.5 m, is 0.2 m below the start at 3.6 m: a loop that comes back to the level it began on, with a flat final stretch for whatever is left.

Measured

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Abu Dhabi, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, the orange marks on the profile. Abu Dhabi stays within 4 m13 ft of height, so they go by the clock:

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side.

Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.

Order by 21 November to test them on two long runs first.

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In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.

Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.

Anti-chafe
Compeed Anti-blister stick
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.

Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.

Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Number belt
A race number belt
Illustration · drag to turn

Compressport Race Belt

Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.

Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.

Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.

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We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Electrolytes
A tube of electrolyte tablets
Illustration · drag to turn

SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20

One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.

One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.

Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Blister plasters
Compeed Blister plasters, medium, 6
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.

Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.

Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
distance
42.2 km26.2 mi
climb
17.9 m59 ft
first held
2018

A loop around Abu Dhabi's Corniche and downtown island.

The Abu Dhabi Marathon is a flat loop of 42.2 km with 17.9 m of climbing. Its lowest point is 3 m and its highest 7 m above sea level. Next race: Saturday 12 December 2026, starting at 06:00.

Race week

Bib pickup at ADNOC Station 222 in Dubai and ADNOC Station 948 in Al Ain

Timetable

Friday 4 December Bib pickup

  1. 10:0010:00 AM–22:0010:00 PM

    Race pack pick-up at ADNOC stations ADNOC Station 222 in Dubai and ADNOC Station 948 in Al Ain. Open Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December, only for runners who chose this pick-up at registration.

Monday 7 December Last bib day

  1. 15:003:00 PM–22:0010:00 PM

    Race pack pick-up at the race village Race village, Abu Dhabi. Open Monday 7 to Friday 11 December for runners who did not choose home delivery or a station pick-up. There is no race pack collection on race day.

Saturday 12 December Race day

  1. 02:452:45 AM

    Shuttle bus from Dubai Ibn Battuta Metro Station (Park & Ride), Dubai. Departs for Abu Dhabi at 2:45 am. Only runners who booked the shuttle at registration can board, and the name must match the booking list.
Other races (2)

  1. 05:555:55 AM

    Elite marathon start Elite marathon only.

  2. 06:006:00 AM

    Marathon and marathon relay start The organiser lists one start for the marathon and the two-person relay.

Times as published by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, in Abu Dhabi time, checked .

Add to calendar .ics file, times in Abu Dhabi time

Trip

Getting a place

Entry through the organiser

Entry details on the organiser’s site →

Abu Dhabi Sports Council, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

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Questions about the Abu Dhabi Marathon

Is the Abu Dhabi Marathon course flat?

Yes. It has 17.9 m of climbing over 42.2 km. The highest point is 4 m above the lowest.

When is the Abu Dhabi Marathon 2026?

Saturday 12 December 2026. The start is at 06:00.

How do I enter the Abu Dhabi Marathon?

Entry is through the organiser. Entry fee: AED 382 (for the 2026 race). Entry details on the organiser’s site

Sources and licence

Last checked.

Course line matched onto OpenStreetMap road geometry: (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License 1.0 (ODbL). Elevation sampled from GEDTM30, Global Ensemble Digital Terrain Model at 30 m (v1.2): Elevation: GEDTM30 (Ho & Hengl, OpenGeoHub), CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Elevation gain computed by us from that line, smoothed over 1 kmsmoothed over 0.6 mi.

The line is drawn on the roads and measures 0.12% shorter than the certified distance.

Date and entry information from Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

Every source and licence behind them →

More races in the United Arab Emirates and in December