MUSCAT: High demand for a place in the first-ever Oman by UTMB event has seen hundreds of runners sign up, including many of the best-known members of the international ultra-trail community. With places filling up and the number of runners now exceeding 300, registration for a sought-after place in the November 29 event will stay open until the final entry cut-off on September 30. Among the elite runners registered for the newest addition to the UTMB calendar are the USA’s Jim Walmsley, the 2017 Ultra Runner of the Year and currently the world number one in the ITRA rankings.
Joining him on the non-stop 137-km event will be the Lithuanian-born 2016 Ultra Trail World Tour champion Gediminas Grinius, and the Swiss 2017 Ultra Trail World Tour champion Andrea Huser. Also among the athletes representing no fewer than 49 countries are: Jason Schlarb, the top US finisher in the 2014 UTMB Mont Blanc; former Swedish track athlete Ida Nilsson; Swiss runner Diego ‘Zpeedy’ Pazos, aka the ‘bow tie trail runner’; and Wyoming-based Meredith Edwards, one of the leading female runners on the circuit.
In addition, other familiar faces are expected to include Chinese national and Hong Kong resident Tsang Siu Keung “Stone”, one of the most successful trail runners in Asia, plus others from the growing trail running community in China.
“Ultra-trail runners enjoy the challenge of mountain courses and the beauty of the natural environment, and judging by the rush to enter, Oman by UTMB appears to have captured that enthusiasm in full,” said Salma al Hashmi, Oman Sail Chief Marketing Officer.
Oman by UTMB is hosted by Oman Sail and supported by UTMB International.
UTMB founder Michel Poletti was a member of the team that designed the course. “The Sultanate is like no other place I’ve run before, the spectacular scenery, incredible mountains and warm people make this a must-do event,” he said.
“Having had the opportunity to revisit Oman I can now add that the country has a fantastic amount to offer visitors, it is very safe, with much to see and do that the whole family can enjoy,” added the UTMB Mont-Blanc Race Director.
Finishers will earn the maximum number of six qualifying points, valid for three years instead of the usual two, and will save one year in the UTMB Mont-Blanc registration process. Oman by UTMB starts at Birkat Al Mawz, near Nizwa, at 19:30 on November 29, Thursday.
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