Friday 20 / September / 2024
Muscat: More than 20 different nationalities will participate in the largest triathlon in Oman’s history. An estimated 120 participants will swim, run and cycle across 25km of Oman’s beautiful and diverse terrain this Friday.
The organisers of the event, Muscat Triathlon Club (MTC), have seen a steady growth of participants, both Omani and expatriates. The company’s first triathlon event in 2013 had 15 participants, but that number grew to 58 in 2014 at the Shangri-La,
and to an estimated 120 participants today.
Lifestyle
Mohamed Al Obaidi, founder of the Muscat Triathlon Club, said the activity is one of the fastest growing sports today.
“Triathlons are a lifestyle,” Obaidi said. “It requires a lot of discipline to play this sport and you have to live a certain way in order to keep up.” The triathlon is split into two races, Sprint and Olympic. The Sprint races are shorter than the Olympic, and also have more participants. The shorter race is still a 750m swim, plus a 20km cycle, ending with a 5km run. There are about 102 men, and 18 women Ali Al Tamimi, MTC Operations Manager, believes that Oman has the perfect setting for triathlons, especially compared to other Gulf States.
“Oman is the best place to host such an event,” Ali Tamimi said. “Our roads are not straight and flat, our oceans are better and we have mountains. It’s the perfect environment.” The triathlon starts on Friday at 3pm at the Millennium Resort in Mussanah.
