Haile wins but misses record

Haile Gebrselassie was a clear winner of the Dubai Marathon but failed in his attempt to set a third world record at the distance.

In bad weather, Gebrselassie came home in two hours, five minutes and 29 seconds, falling well short of his performance in Berlin last September where he ran 2hrs 3mins 59secs.

The 35-year-old Ethiopian initially looked on target to claim a world record bonus of $1million and at the halfway point he was 20sec faster than he was in Berlin.

However, the pace slowed and at 20 miles, as the pacemakers stepped aside, he was just a second ahead of schedule, leaving him to complete the rest of the race on his own.