Over 150 participated in Fatima Bint Mubarak Sports Academy’s Women’s race

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Fatima Bint Mubarak Sports Academy for Women’s Sports commenced its activities for the current season.

With the continuous support from His Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, President of the Women’s General Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, Chairwomen of the Family Development Foundation (Mother of the Emirates) and the follow-up of Sheikha Fatima Bint Hazaa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of The Board of Directors of the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, President of the Abu Dhabi Ladies Club and Al Ain Ladies Club, the academy turned the page on the ninth edition of Fatima Bint Mubarak’s International Show Jumping Cup.

They also organized the Fatima Bint Mubarak Academy Women’s Running Race, in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Sports Council, in which women from all walks of life had participated in Al Ain Zoo’s run consisting of a thrilling series of 3K, 5K,10K races on Saturday from 7am.

More than 150 competitors participated in the event that started from the park, passed throughout the enclosures of safari area, Desert World, Arabian Animals Habitat, Big Cats Oasis, and returned full circle to the end point following the same trek back to the starting point.

This type of race also encourages women of all age groups from the local community to be hip to an alternative lifestyle and a movement of health and wellness through jogging, which is one form of exercise that comes natural to the human body.

Participation across all age groups is highly encouraged, not to mention the lively atmosphere that enables them to practice many of the sporting activities in nature and wildlife areas so peaceful and serene vibes within vast green spaces. This edition also witnessed a noticeable increase in the number of participants compared to last year, which falls in line with the Academy's vision of making sports an element of daily use in the lives of Emirati women. In light of the strong support that women’s sports receive from various sides, the successful contestants who went on to win second and third round categories in the championship round, are as follows, "Ms. Margarita O'Flaherty", "Ms. Carolina Calajas" and Ms. "Maha Al Dhaheri", with the aim of encouraging them to actively participate in the coming years.

In this context, FBMA has been particularly keen to organize running races for women, over the past years, due to its wide popularity and great turnout amongst women demographic, the past season witnessed a large number of female competitors.

The event was supported by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the strategic partner, in addition to the Al Ain Zoo Burjeel Hospital, Al Ain Water, Al Masood Automotive and Daman Company.