The Al Mouj Muscat Marathon is one of the star events on the Sultanate of Oman’s sporting calendar. The event gathers local and international runners of all ages, nationalities and fitness levels together for a celebration of health and fitness during a 2-day festival of running hosted in Oman’s vibrant …
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The Al Mouj Muscat Marathon is one of the star events on the Sultanate of Oman’s sporting calendar. The event gathers local and international runners of all ages, nationalities and fitness levels together for a celebration of health and fitness during a 2-day festival of running hosted in Oman’s vibrant capital, Muscat.
The Muscat Marathon has broken all previous records with an unprecedented number of entries after Oman Sail and Muscat Road Runners joined forces to expand the event. More than 1,000 of the entries are Muscat based while more than 170 have traveled from 75 different countries around the world, reflecting the Al Mouj Muscat Marathon’s growing status in the global marathon community and the Sultanate’s increased profile as a sporting tourism destination.
Perched on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, the Sultanate of Oman’s stark beauty and vastly contrasting landscapes have enchanted growing numbers of tourists each year. With its magnificent desert, secret oases and breathtaking mountain ranges, Oman is an alluring destination. A tropical underwater paradise lies beneath the turquoise sea, caressing the white sandy beaches that adorn the country’s stunning 3165 km coastline. Alongside this natural wealth is Oman’s rich culture, which blends with modern infrastructure and historical features that span over 7,000 years.
Muscat, the Sultanate’s capital city, is home to over one million inhabitants and is within seven hours’ flight time of 50% of the world’s population and connected to cities in Europe, the Gulf, Africa and Asia by direct flights with the national carrier, Oman Air.
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Marathon in White City of Muscat.
The Middle East still offers the opportunity to run in January, a marathon under acceptable temperatures to avoid the European winter. The marathon of the Oran capital allows to discover, … MORE
The Middle East still offers the opportunity to run in January, a marathon under acceptable temperatures to avoid the European winter. The marathon of the Oran capital allows to discover, from another angle, that of the architectural modernity of the “White City”.
The course is fairly flat, and crosses both the residential areas of the Marina Al Mouj (The Wave), construction areas, a golf course and the waterfront for several kilometers.
The organization of this event with several racing formats, tends to democratize running in the Sultanate.
Finally, the Friday marathon takes place, on both sides, of the Marina Al mouj, with 2 loops on a ground sprinkled sometimes bitumen, autoblocants paved, and dirt way trail running.
The start is in the twilight of the dawn, with this year more than 20 minutes late, which will not bode a great performance for each of us on the end of the race. Indeed, the latter finished with ten kilometers of sea front under a blazing sun, without shade but with a welcome breeze.
The finish line on the Mall of the Marina will be the reward of this marathon with an organization of the event at the height of the warm welcome of the Oranais, medal, Tshirt, food and drinks at will and many animations around this festival of the running.
A race to recommend to all those who want a change of scenery, and discover a new country, another culture, and share the sweetness of life and hospitality of the Oran people.
Midsize race w middleeastern hospitality
I like the middle eastern food and winter in Europe is always a nice excuse to go somewhere warm. January in Oman is mild with temps around 20-28° C. The … MORE
I like the middle eastern food and winter in Europe is always a nice excuse to go somewhere warm. January in Oman is mild with temps around 20-28° C.
The Muscat Marathon was held for the 7th time- venue and course have changed since the last review here .
There are various options (full, half, relay, 10k, kids run). The registration closes about 4 weeks prior to the event, so dont delay registration to the last minute. Most runners in the half and full marathon field were foreigners, since running is not that implemented in the sports culture. All events (spread over 2 days) had about 7.5k runners. The sportsvillage offered a lot like massage and cryo therapy after the race, food and games for the kids.
The race starts and finishes in Al Mouj which is a new development on the coast but about 20mk away from old Muscat. I stayed in Mysk Hotel which was newly opened and only 1 minute away from the sporting event. The race course led along new residential devolpements a golf course and the promenade but inbetween also along some constructions sides which will probably be gone next year. I loved seeing and hearing a traditional Omanian music band that played for the runners, other than that though very little course entertainment or spectators. T-Shirt, Medal and back pack with some give aways, a box with food (criossant, roll, cheese, cookie) at the finish.
Suggestions for a trip to Oman:
– apply online for the visa and you save a little bit of time at the arrival
– ask the cab driver first what he wants for the trip/ negotiate
– there is no uber, you ll need money for the cab ride, but most restaurants take credit cards
– try a wadi walk (oasis) and see a performance at the spectacular Royal Opera if you have the chance
Nice race in a wonderful country!
Muscat Marathon is a nice race with a few hundreds runners from all over the world. The distribution of the race packages as well as start/finish take place at Intercontinental … MORE
Muscat Marathon is a nice race with a few hundreds runners from all over the world. The distribution of the race packages as well as start/finish take place at Intercontinental Hotel which makes it all easy. I really recommend to choose that hotel for the stay if you wanna run the marathon. The course is flat and runners pass by the Muscat Opera House and some beaches. After the finish there is a breakfast party at the pool of the Interconti Hotel.