The marathon at next year's track and field world championships in Doha will be held at midnight to combat the stifling heat

The event straddles late September and early October, when the average high temperature during the day is 39 degrees.

Athletics governing body the IAAF claims the move is to embrace the global trend of night running events.

The 20km and 50km race walk events will begin half an hour earlier.

There'll be no traditional morning qualifying events, with split evening sessions separated by an hour break.