29 Sep Oman Desert Marathon: more than just running, a diverse country
Muscat, 29/9/2022 – Running is moving, moving is seeing and seeing is discovering. That is the essence of seeking different surroundings for our sport, and that is where Oman and the Oman Desert Marathon come into play.
Because after all, the race, any race, is usually an excuse for that discovery; arrive a couple of days before to acclimatise and stay on a few days longer to explore, discover and enjoy the rest of the country and its people.
During the race, Oman offers the discovery of impressive desert scenery, but Oman is special in that the desert runs into the sea.
But beyond the race and its surroundings, Oman, with the official name of “Sultanate of Oman” since 1970, is a stable and peaceful country of great cultural richness in the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula, with its capital in Muscat and a population of just over five million inhabitants in a country where population density is not a problem.
A country with a warm climate, which in winter, when the race is held, is quite mild, and whose landscape is essentially made up of the omnipresent sandy desert and the coast, and its social essence, as in most Arab countries, is hospitality, symbolised by the “kahwa”, the traditional Omani coffee.
The race is a perfect excuse to explore a land that has so much to offer and where there is so much to see. A comfortable country in which visitors are offered all they need to enjoy it, from a simple entry visa application process (c), to excellent roads (driving on the right) that allow visitors to get comfortably to points of interest, such as the essential Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque , a prime architectural wonder that is a must-see.
But in addition to wide-ranging cultural offer, Oman’s natural environment offers many options beyond desert running for outdoor activities, ranging from scuba diving at any level, near Muscat in places like Al Dymaniyat, to the easy climbing of peaks of around 3,000 metres, such as Jebel Shams, the highest mountain in Oman located 240 km from Muscat, or a pleasant swim in the blue pools of Wadi Damm, where we can also climb and hike.
Oman is a country that justifies a visit for anyone who enjoys travelling, a visit that can perfectly be combined with participation in the race, rounding off the week discovering a country that is comfortable, welcoming and scenically impressive.
For more information: