MUSCAT: Two residents of Oman were pleased to agree support with the Kempinski Hotel this week, for their attempt to run a full ironman distance triathlon event in the summer heat in Oman.
Nic Cartwright, Managing Director of Sabco Sports, and Peter Laing, Director with Driver Trett, have been planning to run a challenge event for the past two summers, but have been frustrated over those 2 years by the impact of the Covid pandemic. They had entered the Ironman Austria event in 2020, which was postponed to this summer and again to later in the year.
But their love of the training and their determination to complete a race had meant they had decided to run the event overnight in the heat of an Omani summer.
When the new curfew was announced this week, the two triathletes were left facing further frustration as running the race in the day-time sun would be potentially dangerous. However, they reached out to the Kempinski Hotel at the Almouj to ask if they would be able to undertake the event using the great facilities at the hotel.
Now, with the full support of the staff at the Kempinski Hotel, Nic and Peter will undertake the full ironman distance triathlon.
They will swim just under 4km in one of the pools at the hotel, then cycle (on indoor trainers) 180km and run a full marathon in the Kempinski gym on one of the top end treadmills featured in the hotel’s fully equipped gym.
The full effort will take 12 hours and more, but Nic and Peter both agree that exercise is a great way to cope with the tough times of Covid. “We really enjoy exercising, and Oman has so many great assets – with a wonderful geography and climate. We need to take extra care in the hotter months, but exercise has been a great way for us both to cope with all that Covid has thrown at us.
“We have seen a lot more people out exercising in 2021 – we are sure this is in reaction to the fight against Covid. And we encourage the people of Oman to get as active and as healthy as they can to continue that fight.”
Carsten Wiegandt, the General Manager of the Kempinski Hotel is a keen runner and swimmer himself, and was happy to provide the facilities at the Kempinski. “We have been working with the athletic community of Muscat for some time, we host events at the hotel (when we can) and we are partner with some of the best events in the city including the Muscat Marathon and the Oman Golf Open. It is a pleasure to help Nic and Peter out in their hour of need and we wish them well on Thursday.”
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