Ethiopians to attend the Jordan Run October 17 2009

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By Roufan Nahhas

AMMAN - The first Amman International Marathon, celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the founding of the modern day Amman Municipality, kicks off October 17 with the participation of thousands of professional and non-professional runners worldwide.

The marathon will be supervised by a board of trustees with HRH Princess Dina Mired, Amman Mayor Omar Maani and HE Fawwaz Al Zoubi as members and chaired by HRH Prince Firas Ben Raad.

“The marathon translates the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II, who called on establishing initiatives for youth and which achieves intended goals and results,” said Prince Firas at a press conference on Sunday.

“The marathon is a unique social and sport event which will take runners to the heart of Amman passing through the old streets of the city,” he added.

“The marathon will give us a chance to build a new generation of runners who will represent the Kingdom in future events,” the Prince stressed.

Princess Dina said: “It is an excellent chance for societies to be part of the event to spread awareness on their work.”

Maani said that the municipality has allocated all its resources to make sure that the event is “a success”.

“We expect thousands of runners to be part of the event as it mixes sports and social activity together,” Maani said.

“We are focusing on promoting athleticism, particularly among youth, encouraging tourism and promoting athletic cooperation across countries of the Middle East and the world,” he added.

Several world-class runners from Ethiopia, Kenya, Italy and Europe will take part in the event which will be held in cooperation with the Jordan Athletics Federation (JAF).

“We will also be part of the event and give the marathon its legal and professional status,” newly elected JAF President Zeidan Abadi said.

“The marathon is accredited by the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) as an international event and is supported by Beirut Marathon Association,” he added.

The event will have the support of Abdali Investment and Development Psc. and Arab Bank, in addition to others.

Abdali Investment and Development Psc CEO Mouhib Itani expressed his happiness to be part of the event.

“We are really glad to be part of it and we will give JD10 on behalf of each runner who finishes the marathon to Al Hussein Cancer Centre,” he said.

The route of the race starts at the steps of the Greater Amman Municipality and the finish line will be at the old Gladiator Park next to the Roman Amphitheatre in downtown Amman. The categories of the running events are: 42km for professional runners, 10km for leisure runners to encourage public participation and 4km for children.

Water stations will be located every 2.5km and energy drink stations will be located every 5km. Five medical stations will be positioned along the course and there will be toilet facilities at the start and finish points, as well as along the course.