Devisme, Garcia share honours in the season's opening races at Yas Mall

The new season of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council’s (ADSC) community events got off to a flyer at the Yas Mall with more than 700 runners competing across three race distances.
Frenchman Gerald Devisme and Colombian Maria Jose Garcia emerged winners of the 10-kilometre runs for men and women, respectively, on Friday.
Devisme clocked 39.14 minutes to take the men’s race. Another Frenchman Cedric Monnot (41.05) and Emirati Mohammed Al Balooshi (42.16) joined him on the podium from a field of 94 runners.
Garcia won in a time of 48.50 from Leen Al Masood (50.55) of Jordan and Briton Kim Myers (53.38).
Mohammed Al Hammadi and Briton Gemma Brown shared the men and women’s prizes in the 5km event while Ahmed Mubarak Al Naqbi and Mouza Al Ghafli took the 2.5km events.
The day was fun-filled activities with races for the juniors, boys and girls, masters, veterans and super veterans for both men and women, drawing 722 runners.
Talal Al Hashemi, ADSC’s Director of Technical Affairs Department, said he was delighted to see such a big number turning up for the opening community event.
“Obviously that’s a good sign for the remainder of the season,” he said while emphasising the importance of the community event.
“It’s all about providing the opportunity to lead a healthy lifestyle by taking part in such sporting activities. There are events for men, women and children of all age groups and levels.”
Al Hashemi thanked the management of Yas Mall, Al Ain Water and Gulf Multisport for the support and sponsorships, and those worked for the success of the event.
For more information on the upcoming events, log on to www.adsc.ae.