Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Runners take to the inside of malls.Alamy Stock Photo FreeMALL MARATHON As temperatures touch 50C, Dubai runners turn to indoor marathon Record-breaking temperatures makes outside exercise almost impossible. 1.15pm, 9 Aug 2025 Share options EARLY ON SATURDAY, as temperatures soared outside, a sprawling shopping centre in Dubai echoed to the squeak of sneakers as hundreds of people joined “Mallathon” – an indoor, air-conditioned race. The government-backed initiative aims to encourage exercise during August, often the United Arab Emirates’ hottest month, and make use of Dubai’s giant malls which are otherwise empty at that time. Running outside during summer in the Gulf, one of the world’s hottest regions where temperatures sometimes top 50C, is unpleasant and even unsafe for many. “If you run outside, it’s not healthy at all because temperatures are around 40C to 50C,” said one runner who gave his name as Rai, his platinum-blond hair pulled back with a headband. Participants wearing “Dubai Mallathon” T-shirts and sports gear ran and walked past closed stores along vacant, marbled halls that were set to be teeming with shoppers hours later. Advertisement Throughout August, nine of the city’s shopping centres — including the cavernous Dubai Mall, one of the world’s biggest — are open daily for runners and walkers from 7am-10am. On weekends, runners can enter organised 10km, 5km or 2.5km races at designated malls, complete with podium presentations and prizes. During Saturday’s race at the City Centre Mirdif mall, two robots buzzed around the participants, who paused to take selfies with them. Others waited in line to use electric bikes that powered blenders to make healthy smoothies. Mallathon is backed by Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 42, whose public profile projects him as an exemplar of active living. It is one of a number of attempts to steer Dubai’s car-loving, mall-rat population towards exercise, including the 30×30 challenge, where residents are encouraged to exercise 30 minutes a day for a month. Obesity rates in the energy-rich Gulf country regularly top global charts. A study published by The Lancet in March predicted a staggering 94 percent of UAE males would be overweight or obese by 2050 — the highest in the world. Partly to blame is the furnace-like heat that ravages the region for several months a year, and is steadily growing more intense. The UAE had its hottest April on record this year, and then breached its May high two days in a row. 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