By Roufan Nahhas

AMMAN - Amman woke up Saturday to the sound of thousands of runners taking part in the first Amman International Marathon, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Amman municipality.

The event, which started at the Greater Amman Municipality and finished at the Hashemite plaza downtown, was dominated by Africa's best athletes with Kenya's David Kiptum taking the first place in the 42km race after clocking 2h20m48s, leaving second place to Ethiopia's Gezahagn Girma Beyene with 2h21m39s.

Italy's Said Boudalia settled in the third spot with 2h21m58s.

Jordanian runners also did well, with Mithqal Marouf Abbadi taking first place among Jordanians with 2h27m18s, leaving Salameh Aqara in second place with 2h43m55s and Hayel Rawahneh in third place with 2h53m29s.

In the women's category, also dominated by African runners, Ethiopia's Tadelech Telila won first place with 2h51m39s while her teammate Etaferahu Getahun took the second spot with 2h54m19s and Kenya's Lilian Chelimo took third place with 2h57m53s.

Jordanian women, headed by Their Royal Highnesses Princess Ghaida Talal, president of the Trustees Committee of the King Hussein Cancer Centre, and Princess Dina Mired, also did well.

Olympic runner Bara Marwan took first place, clocking 3h48m12s, while Yasmeen Bishawi took second place with 4h23m16s and Abeer Al Ghool came in third with 4h46m13s.

Around 12,000 runners representing 71 countries and from all walks of life took part in the event, which also marked the 10th anniversary of His Majesty King Abdullah’s accession to the Throne.

Deputising for King Abdullah, HRH Prince Mired gave the start signal to the crowds of runners, labelled by many as "an exceptional celebration for an exceptional city".

"Definitely, it is a huge event here in Amman where thousands registered to be part of the event marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of Amman Municipality," Amman Mayor Omar Maani told The Jordan Times.

"The event is a success due to the cooperation of citizens, government agencies and the private sector in addition to all participants from around the world," he added.

The event had the support of the International Marathon Committee in addition to other sporting organisations.

The mayor highlighted the idea of organising the event each year.

"We would like to see the event launched every year to become a truly international event here in Jordan," he said.

Twenty-five internationally renowned runners took part in the event, such as Ethiopia's Aregash Guba, Kenya's Christopher Rono and Ethiopia's Gizaw Bekele.

Mithqal Abbadi, the first Jordanian to cross the finish line in the 42km run, said that it was an "excellent" and "one-of-a-kind" event.

"It is really a big event that coloured the streets of old Amman and the participation of several world athletes made it even more challenging," he said.

Kenya's Joseph Keino said: "It was a medium race event, not difficult and not easy, but we had a good run and I am happy with my position."

The organiser donated JD10 to the King Hussein Cancer Centre for each participant that crossed the 42.195km finish line.

The categories of the running events were 42km for professional runners, 10km for leisure runners to encourage public participation, and 4km for children.