If you run in the Emirates, your year does not start in January. It starts the week the humidity finally breaks, somewhere in the back half of October, and it ends when the last of the February races is done. Everything in between is the season. Everything outside it is base work in the dark.
This is every race worth putting in your calendar between now and the end of the 2026/27 season, with what the conditions actually do on each date, and what to wear when they do it. We update it as organisers confirm dates.
The 2026/27 season at a glance
| Date | Race | Where | Distances |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Oct – 29 Nov | Dubai Fitness Challenge | Dubai | 30 days, city-wide |
| 8 Nov 2026 | Plus500 Dubai City Half Marathon | Dubai | 21.1K |
| 22 Nov 2026 | Dubai Run | Sheikh Zayed Road | 5K, 10K |
| 12 Dec 2026 | ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon | Abu Dhabi | 42.2K, 10K, 5K, 2.5K |
| 27 Dec 2026 | Ajman Half Marathon | Ajman | 21.1K |
| 17 Jan 2027 | Dubai Marathon | Deira | 42.2K |
| 24 Jan 2027 | Burj2Burj Half Marathon | Dubai | 21.1K |
| Feb 2027 | RAK Half Marathon | Ras Al Khaimah | 21.1K |
Also in this windowDubai Creek Striders Half, the Zayed Charity Run and the Skechers UAE National Day Run. Dates land later than the majors, so check the organisers directly rather than trusting a calendar nobody has touched since last season.
November: the month everyone comes back
Dubai Fitness Challenge, 31 October to 29 November
Thirty minutes a day for thirty days. It is not a race, but it is the reason November is the busiest running month in the country, and it is when half the people you will line up against in January start running again.
The useful part for a runner is the free Fitness Villages and the community hubs. If you have spent the summer on a treadmill, this is the month to remember what pavement feels like.
Dubai Run, 22 November
The big one. Sheikh Zayed Road closes, and you run down the middle of it at dawn with the towers on both sides. There is a 5K and a 10K, both free to enter.
Nobody is racing. The field is so large that the first kilometre is a shuffle, which is exactly what you want when it is your first time.
Two things people get wrongThe start is early and the queue is long, so you will be standing still in the dark for a while before you move: take a layer you do not mind tying round your waist. And the sun comes up during the run, straight down the road into your eyes. Most of the field squints through it. A pair that actually stays put is the difference between enjoying the last 3K and enduring it.
Plus500 Dubai City Half Marathon, 8 November
Early November is still warm and still humid. A half at this point in the season is an honest test of whether your summer base work survived the summer. Do not chase a personal best here. Treat it as the rehearsal for January.
December: the fast month
ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon, 12 December
Flat, fast, and the best conditions of the year. December mornings in Abu Dhabi sit in the high teens, the humidity has dropped, and the course is built for times. There is a full marathon, a 10K, a 5K and a 2.5K, so the whole family can be on the start line at different distances.
Read our full ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon guide for the course breakdown and what to pack.
Nobody warns you about thisIt is genuinely cold at 5am in December on the Corniche, and then it is not. You will overdress. Everyone overdresses. Wear what feels slightly too cold standing still.
Ajman Half Marathon, 27 December
Smaller, quieter, and a good one if the big-city events are not your thing. Our Ajman Half guide has the detail.
January: the championship month
Dubai Marathon, 17 January
The oldest and the fastest. Famously flat, famously quick, and the reason elite fields come to the Gulf in winter. If you have one goal race in you this season, this is the one that will give you a time.
January is also when the weather is at its most forgiving: mid-teens at the start, low twenties by the time most of the field finishes. That is a twenty-degree swing from what you trained through in September, and it will feel like running downhill.
Burj2Burj Half Marathon, 24 January
A week after the marathon, which makes it either a very bad idea or a very good one depending on what you did the previous Saturday. Burj Khalifa to Burj Al Arab, flat and quick. We wrote a pacing plan for Burj2Burj if you want to race it rather than run it.
February: the last one
RAK Half Marathon
Consistently one of the fastest half marathons in the world. Flat, coastal, cool, and it attracts a world-class field, which means the pacing groups are properly run. If you want a half marathon personal best, this is the race, and it is the last real chance before the heat comes back.
What the conditions do to you, month by month
| Month | Typical 6am | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| October | Warm, very humid | Build only. Racing here costs more than it returns. |
| November | Warm, humidity dropping | Rehearsal races. Go by effort, not pace. |
| December | Cool and dry | Fast. Overdressing is the main risk. |
| January | Coolest of the year | Goal race month. This is where times happen. |
| February | Cool, warming late | Last fast window. Then it closes until November. |
The low sun is the part people underestimate. Gulf races start before dawn and finish after sunrise, so you spend the back half running into light that is low, flat and directly in front of you. That is harder on the eyes than midday glare, and it is the single most common reason a good race falls apart in the last 5K.
If this is your first season
- Dubai Run in November. 5K or 10K. Free, enormous, and nobody is watching your pace.
- The ADNOC 10K in December. Once you know you enjoy it, and in the best conditions of the year.
- A half in January or February. If the first two went well, this is the natural next step.
That is a season. It is also roughly how most people in this country end up running a marathon without ever deciding to.
If you are training through October and early November while it is still heavy, our Dubai heat survival guide covers acclimatisation and pacing, and night running in Dubai covers where to run when the daytime is not an option. For routes, five Dubai running routes has the distances and parking.
What to have before the first start line
Nothing exotic. Three things that matter more in this climate than they do anywhere else.
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Eyewear that does not move
Low sun at sunrise, and your face will be wet. A frame that slides at 15K is a frame you carry for the last 6K. Runnies running sunglasses are built for it.
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Socks that are not cotton
Gulf humidity keeps your feet wet the whole race, and cotton holds that water against your skin. Our socks come in three lengths; the length guide explains which.
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A cap, for the second half
Not for the dark start. For the twenty minutes after sunrise when the sun is low and straight ahead. Runnies caps are vented for it.
Keep this page
We update this calendar as organisers confirm dates and open registration. Bookmark it, and check back in October each year when the new season's dates land.
See you on Sheikh Zayed Road in November.
