Eilat Desert Marathon

The Eilat Desert Marathon takes you from the vibrant vacation-city of Eilat into the surrounding mountains with their beautiful shades of sand, and breathtaking views that turn the race into an unforgettable experience. The events of the Eilat Desert Marathon take place over three full days of sports activities, hospitality and a festive finale at a huge after-marathon party you won’t want to miss.

Marathon course description
From the starting point 4.5 km of flat terrain, heading northward; on a day with a strong northerly wind the going can be somewhat difficult. From 4.5 to 6.5 km a moderate ascent following Nahal Roded; at the water point is a left turn on a path characterized by rolling hills, quite easy for running, until the next water point (about 2 km); from there, a general trend of ascent on a rather comfortable path until the main intersection (Roded-Netafim) at 11 km.

At this intersection you turn left and run on an incline through a channel of Nahal Netafim for a distance of 3.5 km until the turnaround point at the bottom of the streambed, where a considerable part of the ascent is through thick sand which makes running difficult (marked in red on the map).

From the turnaround point back to the main intersection, on the same path, on which you then turn left and continue up the channel until the high point of the route (286m) located at 21 km; part of the ascent has deep sand (marked in red on the map).

From 21 to 24 km is an ongoing northward descent to an altitude of 150m. A 2.5 km flat transition section from Nahal Shehoret to Nahal Amram and descent eastward on the oil route to altitude of 106m (28 km) and from there southward on the oil route on a path characterized by rolling hills and a moderate ascent until the main intersection (32.8 km, altitude 176m).

From here, an ongoing descent in general eastward direction to the bird-watching park (37.5 km, altitude 20m) and at the exit from the bird-watching park there remain another 4.2 km on flat terrain, to encircle the Herods hotel and pass through the finish arch located on the Herods hotel promenade, on which you go from west to east.

Note: It is important to take note that the starting arch is located 150m east (towards Jordan) of the finish arch on the Herods hotel promenade, for all heats.