Oman Sail to organise 2017 Al Mouj Muscat Marathon

Date

8/29/2016 1:29:37 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily)

Oman Sail's expertise in hosting the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Oman earlier this year and the plaudits it earned for hosting the RC44 Championship Tour, the Laser and RS:X worlds in the past will come in handy when it organises the 2017 Al Mouj Muscat Marathon on January 27.

Muscat Marathon has been a regular feature in the domestic circuit over the past five years and has been organised by Muscat Road Runners (MRR), a multi-national volunteer group of running enthusiasts.

In a bid to expand the potential of the event and reach out to regional and international audience, MRR has now joined hands with Oman Sail with the backing of Al Mouj Muscat to host the sixth edition next year.

Announcing the details in a press conference at the Al Mouj Muscat sales centre on Wednesday, Ahmed al Malki, MRR's chairman, said, 'We were eager to make Muscat Marathon a bigger event. Given the experience of Oman Sail in successfully organising worldclass events, we are happy that they have accepted our proposal to organise the event next year.

'At the previous edition, we had 600 runners taking part, and with the joining of Oman Sail and Al Mouj Muscat, we expect that the January event will witness nearly 1,200 runners competing in the three events - marathon, half marathon and 10km.'

David Graham, Oman Sail's CEO, was excited about the new partnership with MRR and said that the 'experience of my team in hosting world-class events' has been the reason in going out to organise a non-sailing sporting event.

A file photo of runners competing in a Muscat Marathon event, organised by MRR

'Over the past few years, we have proven our credentials in hosting top-notch sailing events. We have taken upon ourselves to promote sports tourism, and marathon is certainly an event that has a huge potential. The passion of MRR's volunteers coupled with the organisational skills of the Oman Sail team is a marriage that is bound to succeed. We hope to gradually make this event a regular feature on the international calendar for runners across the world,' said Graham.

'In the coming edition, we have capped the entries at 1,250 as we want to ensure that the participants take back everlasting good memories. In the years to come, with our network and the support of Al Mouj, we plan to promote Muscat Marathon as a much sought-after race,' he said.

Nasser al Sheibani, acting CEO of Al Mouj Muscat, said, 'We have always been keen to support top-class events, be it the RC44 class, the Extreme Sailing Series or the NBO Golf Classic. We feel that Muscat Marathon will give a boost to sports tourism and provide a platform for young Omanis to shine.'

Malki said that though the marathon has got the sanction of the Oman Athletics Association (OAA), he wished there was more support from the governing body of athletics.

'We are a small group of volunteers and always look for support. It would be encouraging to get more support from the OAA and the Ministry of Sports Affairs,' he said.
Representatives of the sports ministry, the OAA and the Ministry of Tourism were conspicuous by their absence from Wednesday's press event.

However, a statement from the tourism ministry, quoting Salim al Mamari, the Director-General of Tourism Promotion, said, 'Sports tourism has great potential as a significant contributor to the economy and is a key aspect of our tourism strategy. We are confident that the international competitors will use Muscat Marathon as a reason to come to the sultanate on a holiday.'

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