Dead Sea Ultra Marathon gets rescheduled to 2017

AMMAN — The Dead Sea Ultra Marathon, one of the most popular sporting events in Jordan will go through some serious changes that will require it to be rescheduled from its initial April 8 date to next year.

The announcement was made on Wednesday by Jameel Mjahed, Run Jordan secretary of the board of directors, who focused on the development as part of the marathon’s global appeal. 

“This decision was made after several deliberations among Run Jordan board of directors members with all entities that are involved in the race,” he said.

“It was unanimously agreed to restructure the race in a manner that includes changing the race route of all races to allow runners to witness and visit the religious, touristic and therapeutic marvels of the lowest point on Earth,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lina Al Kurd, general manager of Run Jordan, the sole entity dedicated to bringing together different marathon events and races in Jordan under one umbrella — told The Jordan Times that the decision would give the marathon a global and more developed look.

“HH Prince Firas and Run Jordan board of directors believe that there is always a place for improvement and this led us to rethink of the strategy adopted for the marathon and how we can make it better,” she said.

“The marathon will be focused on the Dead Sea area as a place that enjoys touristic and sporting appeal and this way we can invite runners from around the world to run and enjoy what the Dead Sea can provide,” she added.

The marathon enjoys strong popularity among runners and families with last year’s record number of over 7,000 runners took part in the event which saw Jordan runner Mithqal Abbadi clocking 2h58m19s to win the ultra-marathon 50km.

“Fans of the Dead Sea marathon would like to see a more organised event and we are listening to them and that is why our global ambition and thirst for more development will give us the needed time to organise better events for the marathon and the Kingdom,” she said.

According to Kurd, the marathon plays a big role in promoting Jordan as a touristic destination.

“The marathon helps in attracting tourists to the Kingdom by sending a clear message that Jordan has a lot of places to visit, enjoy and interact, and the marathon will be the spearhead this initiative of promoting our tourism,” she said.