Ssenyange has now won the past four editions of the annual event, which held its 32nd running on Friday at Yas Island in the capital.

The Ugandan improved on his winning time from last year with a significant jump of five minutes and 43 seconds to 1:06:10. He was also nearly nine full minutes ahead of second-place finisher Jeremy Curran.

Sedykh, meanwhile, set the pace for the women in a time of 1:22:31 as the Russian was trailed by Jill Majir (1:28:17) and Laura Holton (1:28:34).

In the shorter distance, Ash Chambers topped the men with a time of 0:32.04 and Anne-Mari Hyrylainen won for the women in 0:32:04.

Steve Watson, managing partner of organisers Gulf Multi Sport, said: “With a combination of cooler weather and ideal course set up for runners many participants secured PB’s for the start of the local running season.

“The support from the community, the stakeholder of Yas Island and of course the fantastic volunteers brought real atmosphere to the event that continues to develop and inspire the people of the UAE to take up running and adapt healthier lifestyle habits.”