DUBAI — Following the stupendous success of their Marathon at Home last month, the Dubai Sports Council, ASICS Middle East and 5:30 Run club, are back together, alongside Sun & Sand Sports, to bring a brand new initiative for the community in this Holy Month of fasting: the Ramadan 5K Challenge. The Ramadan 5K Challenge is a virtual challenge that gives members of the community access to a free training plan that involves 11 live training sessions across three weeks led by expert coaches, and the finale for the participants will be a Virtual 5K Run on May 15. The Ramadan 5K Challenge (#Ramadan 5K Challenge) is open to citizens or residents of UAE aged 16 and above, and they can register through the website — https://runandwin.ae/ramadan5kchallenge. The challenge has been created with every member of the community in mind, especially those who are not regular fitness enthusiasts, with the main focus of motivating them to work out without leaving home and staying in shape. After registering, participants will get access to a 21-day training plan, which includes body conditioning sessions and even yoga, to follow at home and as well as access to live training sessions with expert coaches for extra motivation. All live sessions will be livestreamed through Zoom, so all participants will need to download the videoconferencing app on their smart gadgets and link their Zoom account to their Challenge Profile on the Ramadan 5K Challenge website. Linking the Zoom account is important because it will track their participation in the live training sessions, and participants attending live training sessions will earn points that can be redeemed for ASICS prizes. If for some reason, a person is unable to attend the live sessions, he or she can still earn points by recording their own complete training session and sharing it via email or to the chat-box. Dubai Sports Council, ASICS Middle East and the 5:30 Run club had earlier organized the world’s first Marathon at Home, which was a unique 42.195km timed race that was held indoors with the participant’s living rooms, bed rooms and balconies being their course. More than 750 runners representing 62 different nationalities had taken part in the ‘Marathon at Home’, which was organized under the umbrella of Dubai Sports Council’s ‘Be Fit, Be Safe’ and #stayhome campaigns, with the aim of keeping members of UAE’s community in running shape inside their home. With traditional sports and most outdoor activity at a standstill around the globe due to the COVID19 pandemic, Dubai Sports Council has been encouraging sports event organizers in the Emirate to embrace the world of virtual sports and esports, and to come up with innovative solutions to keep members of the community engaged in physical activity at home. To facilitate organizers, the Council has launched a special segment for registering Virtual Events on their www.dubaisc.ae website. They have also linked up with some of the leading brands from UAE’s fitness industry to offer free daily virtual fitness classes, led by certified fitness trainers. The Council has also partnered with Gamefinder Esports to create a series of online tournaments under the title, ‘Call of Duty – Modern Warfare’. The first of these tournaments, which will be organized in collaboration with the Emirates Esports Association, will take place from May 20-22, and 16 teams are expected to compete for cash prizes and vouchers. — SG