The 19th Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, to be staged on Saturday, 14 February 2026 will feature a powerful elite field led by three-time World Champion Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya and former Women’s World Record holder Ababel Yeshaneh from Ethiopia – both former Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon winners in 2013 and 2020 respectively.
The Kenyan is among the greatest half marathon runners of all time achieving a hat-trick of gold medals at the World Half Marathon Championships in 2014, 2016 and 2018, winning the highly competitive World Cross Country title twice, and claiming victory in the New York Marathon on two occasions (2017 and 2019).
Kamworor achieved his breakthrough when he won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in 2013, smashing his personal best by over half a minute with 58:54. Six years later he broke the half marathon world record with a personal best of 58:01 in Copenhagen, which makes him the eighth fastest half marathon runner of all time and the fastest on the Ras Al Khaimah start list.
Like Kamworor, Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh is another world-class athlete. She ran a spectacular 64:31 world record in the 2020 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, leaving behind a world-class field and improving the former record by 20 seconds.
She launched her international career as a 19 year-old back in 2011 when she competed for the military. She took ninth place in the 10,000m final at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and finished 14th in the Olympic 5,000m final in 2016.
Besides the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, she has also won half marathons in Istanbul and Buenos Aires and achieved podium finishes at marathons in Boston, Chicago and New York. Following her world record-breaking performance six years ago, Yeshaneh returned to Ras Al Khaimah twice more – recording a non-finish in 2022 before finishing runner-up in 2024 with a fast time of 65:44.
First staged in 2007, the Ras Al Khaimah race has proved to be one of the fastest half marathons on the international circuit and this year the event will again feature four different race distances held exclusively on Al Marjan Island.
In addition to elite superstars like Kamworor and Yeshaneh in the headline race, the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon will also see participants coming together for the associated 2km, 5km and 10km events. Registration for all four races is open at rakhalfmarathon.com.
The 2026 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is also sponsored by ASICS, Channel 4 Radio Network. ITP Media Group, Bisleri and Vitamin Well.
