Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Around Muscat Marathon 2020

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Muscat: The who’s who of Oman’s sporting arena have come together to add more shine and inspire the Sultanate to start running with their association with the Al Mouj Muscat Marathon 2020. Oman’s motorsports icon Ahmad al Harthy, the country’s best known tennis player Fatma al Nabhani, the Sultanate’s fastest man Barakat al Harthy and Olympic showjumper Sultan al Touqi have been roped in as brand ambassadors for the Muscat Marathon 2020 and were present at the unveiling of the prestigious annual event.


Oman’s greatest sporting icon and footballing great Ali al Habsi, who was unavailable for the unveiling due to his commitments in Saudi Arabia, is also part of the galaxy of eminent sportspersons who will act as role models to inspire Omanis to take up running in a big way.


Musab al Hadi, one of Oman’s top young sailors and Olympic hopeful, will add heft to the initiative to further the vision of Muscat Marathon in enhancing its international appeal and pulling Omanis into the running arena.


Muscat Marathon’s global ambassador and world record holder Paula Radcliffe will join the Omani stars in spreading the appeal of the event and helping them garner more support among the Omani youth.


Tennis star Fatma al Nabhani was all excited about her new role with the Muscat Marathon.


“I’m very happy to be part of this campaign and be a brand ambassador for Muscat Marathon. As I said earlier I have never participated in a marathon before but I’m really looking forward to it. I like to challenge myself, Barakat was asking me whether I’m going to run the 5k or 10k. For us when we practise, we always run a 5k but I want to challenge myself with the 10k. I know we are going to have fun and enjoy the event,’’ Fatma said.

Fatma expected a greater and healthy participation from women to make the event a grand success.


“I hope to see more female participation. It will be great to bring your sister and mother to the event and get them to run. That will be a real achievement for an event such as this. The last edition saw some older women participating and that was really inspiring to see. I think its going to be a very nice event that will bring all people together.”


Fatma also spoke about the commonalities that she saw in her own sport of tennis and the marathons.


“Running is one of the most important exercises that we do for tennis. It improves our endurance and stamina. Running is very important for us,’’ she added.


Fatma stated that she needs to put in a fair amount of preparation to participate in the 10k.


“Hopefully, I get good training. I always run the 5k, so I will gradually look to increase that with practise,’’ she added.


Oman’s motorsports legend Ahmad al Harthy expressed his satisfaction on being associated with the event.


“First of all, I am extremely proud to be one of the brand ambassadors for Muscat Marathon. It is an event that I’m excited to be part of. Our role is to inspire and motivate younger Omanis to come and join this event and lead a healthy life. For me as a professional athlete, its very important that I continue being fit and healthy and that has helped me in my daily life,’’ he said.


Ahmad also dwelt upon the common attributes of his sport and the marathons.


“I’m an endurance racer and marathon is an endurance type of running. There are so many synergies that are at play,’’ he added.


Ahmad said he was still undecided about the event in which he could be running but chipped in with a reply when pushed a little.


“I haven’t decided yet. I might have to challenge Fatma (when told) if she is running the 10k,’’ he added.


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