ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon

The ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon is a World Athletics Elite Label road race and AIMS member event organized by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, held annually in December since its inaugural 2018 edition. The 2026 race is the event's 7th edition and is expected to draw more than 40,000 participants across all race categories, up over 20% from the prior year's roughly 33,000 runners. The course is a loop that starts and finishes at Zayed Sports City, passing landmarks including Capital Gate, ADNOC Headquarters, the Corniche waterfront, Qasr Al Hosn, and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Abu Dhabi's flat coastal terrain makes the route fast, and the race is held title-sponsored by ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company), a partnership in place since at least 2022. Alongside the full marathon (42.195 km), the event offers 10 km, 5 km, and 2.5 km races, plus a relay option, drawing elite African distance runners as well as mass-participation and family entrants.