The inaugural race was held on 7 December 2018. The marathon was won by Kenyan runner
Marius Kipserem and Ethiopian runner
Ababel Yeshaneh, with finish times of 2:04:04 and 2:20:16, respectively. Roughly 10,000 people took part in the event. The marathon had a large prize fund, with 100,000
USD being awarded to each of the two winners. Shortly after the inaugural race, observers speculated that the course was short, with many runners finishing with significant
negative splits and personal records. One person noticed that the times being recorded for the stretch between the and marks were unusually fast. Two months later, marathon experts Sean Hartnett and Helmut Winter measured the course and concluded that, due to an incorrectly indicated turnaround point, the "34th kilometer [was] between 195.8 and 199.6 meters short".
World Athletics does not include either winning time in its lists of all-time fastest outdoor marathons. The men's marathon of the second edition of the event, held on 6 December 2019, was unexpectedly won by Kenyan
pacemaker Reuben Kipyego. Although Kipyego was expected to set the pace for the lead pack and then drop out of the race around the mark, none of the elite runners had kept up with Kipyego by that point. Still feeling good and finding the race conditions ideal, Kipyego finished the race with a negative split, running a personal best of 2:04:40, nearly two minutes faster than the second-place finisher. His compatriot
Vivian Kiplagat also set a personal record with her winning time of 2:21:11, and both runners were each awarded 100,000 USD for their victories. The 2020 edition of the race was postponed to 2021 due to the
coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of obtaining an entry fee refund (minus an administration fee). On 17 December 2022, the men's marathon was again won by a pacemaker. After setting the pace for the lead pack, Kenyan runner
Timothy Kiplagat eventually found himself alone at the front, so he decided to finish the race and won it by over four minutes. Kiplagat's finish time of 2:05:20 was a personal best. Bahraini runner
Eunice Chumba won the women's marathon with a finish time of 2:20:41. == Course ==