Dubai Run

10K, 5K in Dubai, normally held in November. A mixed 10K course — Sheikh Zayed Road is closed entirely for a mass participation run.

The Dubai Run at a glance

Distances	10K, 5K
Main distance	10 km (10K)
Usually held	November
Course	Mixed
City	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Typical conditions	31.1°C high / 20°C low, rain on ~3% of days

Sheikh Zayed Road is closed entirely for a mass participation run.

Entering the Dubai Run

Entry fees, closing dates and start times are set by the organiser and change every year, so they are not reproduced here — a stale deadline is worse than none. The organiser’s own site and its social channels are the authoritative source for the current year, and are where entry opens.

What is stable, and what this page covers: the month the race is held, what the course is like, the conditions you should expect, and how long a build-up the distance needs.

Weather at previous Dubai Run races

Across the last ten years, Dubai in November has averaged a daily high of 31.1°C and a low of 20°C, with at least a millimetre of rain on about 3% of days.

These are recorded observations for the race month averaged over ten years, not a forecast and not a single past race day — race dates move, so one day’s figures would mislead. Source: Open-Meteo historical archive.

How to prepare for the Dubai Run

How long to train

Build for 8 to 10 weeks from a base you already hold rather than from nothing. For 10K the block should peak at a longest run of 12–14 km, reached at least two weeks before race day so there is time to taper. Ten days of reduced volume is enough of a taper at this distance; keep one short session at race pace in the final week.

Training for this course

The course mixes surfaces and gradients, so build a training block that does the same rather than repeating one flat loop. Vary where you run week to week so nothing on race day is unfamiliar.

Conditions in November

Expect heat: daily highs average 31.1°C in November. Heat acclimatisation takes ten to fourteen days, so move some sessions to the warmest part of the day in the fortnight beforehand. Start slower than goal pace, drink to thirst at every station, and accept that a hot race is worth several minutes over a cool one.

Race week

Sleep matters most two nights before, not the night before, so protect that one. Keep eating normally with a modest tilt toward carbohydrate, lay out kit the night before, and do nothing new: no new shoes, no new breakfast, no new socks. Plan to arrive at the start with time to spare — 10K fields move slowly through bag drop and security.

Distances and where the race is run

10K — 10 km
5K — 5 km

The pin marks Dubai city centre, the area the Dubai Run starts and finishes in. This is not the course line: the route is set by the organiser and changes between editions, so the official course map for the current year is theirs to publish. The routes below are for training on the same roads.

Train on these roads: 10K routes in Dubai · long runs in Dubai · GPS art routes

Other races in Dubai

Dubai Marathon — Marathon, 10K, 4K, January

Full Dubai race calendar