16 Sep 8th edition of the Oman Desert Marathon APPROVED BY ITRA
Oman Desert Marathon qualifies for International Races
Muscat, September 16th 2022: The 8th Edition of the Oman Desert Marathon, has been approved by ITRA, (International Trail Running Association) giving the race 3 ITRA points, 1 Mountain point, and confirming the distance of 164.40 Km with a positive 2130 m vertical gain.
Four stages and four different perspectives of one of the most beautiful deserts of the world: red, golden and white sands will make this journey unique and always different, in a scenario that does not know the monotony. The of 47 km, 55 km, 42 km, 21 km to discover the most remote and untouched sands and the highest dunes of the Oman Desert on the tracks of the ancient caravans. The course will start from the Oasis of Bidiyah and finish at Al Jawharat Resort in Bediyah. The race has 14 aid stations, to ensure the success of each participant.
About ITRA
Founded in 2013, ITRA (International Trail Running Association), a non profit organization, is the leading reference organization for trail running globally, providing services to individual trail runners and trail running organizations. ITRA is also the sole representative of Trail Running with the world governing body of our sport, World Athletics (WA) With over 150,000 runner and organizer accounts, ITRA ranks 2 million runners from 163 countries with its Performance Index (PI). There are nearly 8,000 trail races listed in ITRA’s
event calendar. For more information about ITRA please visit our website www.itra.run
About Oman Desert Marathon
Born in 2013, the Oman Desert Marathon is a self-sufficient 165 km race with four stages, including a night stage, across the spectacular Omani landscape and its varieties, from the Oasis Al Wasil, crossing the desert to Al Jawharat Resort. The race ensures the participant a unique experience in the popular well-known, most beautiful country of the Arabian Peninsula. The race takes place during January to ensure the best weather conditions for the runners.
What is a trail race?
A trail race is an off-road experience that takes places in a natural environment, with the minimum possible of paved roads, mountains or forests, countryside or desert, this endurance race takes place on naturally variable terrain, including very often significant climbs and descents, which result in elevation gain and loss between the start and finish line.
The distance isn’t the only thing that matters. Together, the unique features of the terrain and the relationship between distance and elevation changes all work together to create the overall level of difficulty for a given race.
Trail running, which became popular in the mid-1990s, has been recognized as an official athletics discipline by the World Athletics and ITRA has been nominated World Athletics technical partner for the development of Trail Running.
For more information: