Defending champions Tamirat Tola and Worknesh Degefa will lead a world-class field of distance runners when the 2018 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon gets underway on January 26.

Tola, who set a new course record 2h:04m:11s for the world’s richest marathon in January 2017, and fellow Ethiopian Degefa have confirmed they will join more than 30,000 other runners in the Middle East’s biggest mass participation sporting event in what is a major boost to the organisers.

For Tola – whose win in Dubai is the tenth fastest Marathon time in history – a return to the UAE has always been a high priority. The 2016 Olympic 10,000m bronze medalist took more than two minutes off his previous best when winning in Dubai and is convinced he could easily have broken the 2:04 mark on the flat and fast roads of the city.