Mairi Manzil : Fitness

Cycling in Muscat Oman

Oman is one of the most peaceful countries in the world. Expatriates and Locals are living together here. Nature has gifted many places to Sultanate. That is the reason it is one of the most popular tourists destinations in the world. Outdoor sports if also one of the reasons that most of tourists visit Oman. However, locals and residents of Oman also love outdoor sports.

Cycling is one of the most popular sports in the region. Riding was always considered as fun, but this is one of the most important recreational actives.

Fridays and Saturdays early morning 3:00 AM onward cycling in various parts of Oman starts. Individuals and groups are riding for fitness, challenge races and fun. This is a lifestyle of many people of differnt ages in Oman from 5 years of age till 90 years of Omanis and Expatriates can be seen riding in Oman on two wheels specially during weekends.

Weekend Cycling Groups in Muscat

Most of the cyclists gather at Shati Al Qurum (Parking lot near Cost Coffee) GPS Coordinates are here : 23.615975, 58.462492.

There are various groups with differnt start time (5:00 AM , 5:15 AM, 5:30 AM , 5:45 AM, 6:00 AM) and most of the groups are welcoming everyone. But before you join make sure your average speed, because there are some professional cyclists group where they average on flat road 45 km/h.

What are the most popular cycling routes in Oman?

Flat Routes

There are couple of flat routes

18th November Street - Al Mouj R/A

One of the most popular flat route for cycling is 18th November street, depending on distance you want to cover. From start point till Ghubra and back, or up to Al Mouj Round . Total distance is 40km, but you can turn around from Ghura traffic light or Azaiba traffic light for smaller distance.

Seeb Corniche

If you want to try long distance flat route Shati Al Qurum to Seeb Corniche which is 80KM Loop. This distance is perfect for those who want to do flat long distance, and at the same time you get chance to see various popular places of Muscat.

Climb the Hills

Oman has many mountains and roads are hilly, some of the routes for cycling are very challenging and need really strong endurance for climbing the hills, some of the popular hilly routes in Muscat are here.

Muttrah Loop

If you want to do a serious training then Shati Al Qurum to Old Muttra loop is great. You can start from Shati Al Qurum Car Parking, take left from opera house traffic light and follow Corniche road till you reach Qurum round about and then take left to the Qurum Heights Road. Challenge starts from there will three small hills until you reach Muttrah cornich. The you pass from old Muttrah to small hilly roads after Sultan Palace towards Sidab and downhill to Al Bustan. From Al Bustan towards wadi Al Kabir 200m climb is one of the most challenging hill. Then downhill to wadi kabir and following same route to Qurum Heights and Back to Shati Al Qurum. This is total 40km distance with elevation gain of 500m.

Yiti, Bandar Al Khairan

If you are a serious cyclists then following above Muscat Hilly road you can turn left from Al Bustan towards Yiti and Bandar Al Khaira, this is one of the most challenging route in Muscat region, the lap distance with above + Yiti is 80km + Bandar Al Khairan 100 km.

Shangrila Al Hamriya Road.

If you follow Shangria take right towards Yiti and instead of taking left for Yiti follow straight which will take you to Hamriya after 10KM. This road is also challenging with 3 hard climbs of 50 to 80 meters.

Al Khuwair to Amerat Road

This is hardest climb of Muscat, not many cyclists would try this but those with good fitness level and training are doing it on regular basis, speaking to Suleman Al Allawi, one of the most popular triathletes in Oman has told that this is challenging but every cyclist must do it to see if he is a good cyclist. The climb is 400 to 500 and distance of climb is 4km. You have two choices here either to come back after reaching the top (where you get city view as well) or you can continue towards Amerat town.

Ruwi - Al Amerat

Following first route you can continue from Ruwi and then take left for Al Amerat which makes this additional 40KM distance with small hills, or you have choice to directly start from Car parking in Wadi Adai Roundaout (Shell Petrol Station Parking Lot) and then can continue to Al Amerat city mainly till police Station which will make this distance 40km or you can continue to Al Salil area on Quriyat road which will be harded and total distance 100km.

Cycling Events in Oman

There are many cycling events in Oman, most popular one is Tour of Oman.

Tour of Oman

This event is similar to Tour de France, it is a well organized and Government sponsored events. Of course not for every cyclists, only professional teams from world participate in this event.

OCA Championships

Oman Cycling Association also organizes Races in Oman. There are 8 races in a years and participants are awarded points too. To participate in race you must get the membership in OCA, you will be provided UCI License which will cost OMR : 10/- to participate in each race you will need to pay OMR : 3 as participation fee.

Oman Triathlon Community

This is one of the most popular Social Club in Oman for triathletes they are doing workout training weekly basis but there are many races which are organized by Oman Sport Zone, some of the popular races are Azaiba Triathlon, Shangri-La Triathlon and Sifa Triathlon. Though the races are for triathletes but if you are cyclists you can just do cycling.

Sharqiya Region Cycling Event

Al Sharqiya region organizes races every July where distance is around 150km in 5 stages.

Whether you are doing cycling for fitness, fun or for serious sports. Oman is the best place for it. If you have not yet started cycling buy one and start doing it. You will love Oman more than now.

Triathlon 2019 by TriPakistan in Pakistan

This year, one of the best Triathlons in 2019 was organized by Tri-Pakistan in the Gilgit- Baltistan, Pakistan. Located near Hunza valley, surrounded by glaciers Passu (Pasu) Glacier and Rakaposhi, Borith Lake was the location marked for an adventurous challenge in the Karakoram this year on 21st July, 2019.
At an average altitude of 2600m, Borith Lake Traithlon 2019 was a success with 17 triathletes taking part in triathlon for the first time. From different parts of Pakistan and other parts of the world especially Oman and UK.

TriPakistan at Hunza Valley

Many triathletes assembled in Islamabad, which is the capital city of Pakistan to start their journey to Gilgit for final destination to Hunza Valley.
I would like to express my gratitude to Tri-Pakistan, all the organizers and volunteers who put on such an amazing event on 21st July 2019. Although I’ve participated in many triathlons across globe including IM70.3 and several half marathons and marathons, this was my first triathlon in Pakistan, and I can tell you that I was super excited to attend this because of several reasons.
Firstly, the weather and the altitude and second the journey to paradise from Islamabad to Hunza by road. I am an overseas Pakistani and living abroad for the last two decades, but I always enjoy travelling to Pakistan. I especially travelled for this event.
Borith Lake Triathlon was a really challenging one. And at this altitude doing triathlon is a challenge in itself and I believe every triathlete should experience that.
I wish that this event happens every year and I will make special plans to travel to Pakistan to attend it. I am planning to participate at the triathlon again on 26th July 2020.

Once again, I thank you Usman and his team for such a well-organized event. I stayed in a resort arranged by Tri-Pakistan and didn’t have to worry about anything (race pack, race venue, bike mounting, setting up gears, refreshments, rest, transport and etc), everything was arranged by them.
Lastly, I would like to congratulate volunteers, HUGE, HUGE thank you, they were extremely motivational! It was like each one knew me personally, the way they were cheering me on, and that of course, made me smile after my swim, ride faster and run faster.

Thanks again and I look forward to participating in your event next year.”
I recorded race using Garmin Forerunner 935, by turning on triathlon mode. It has perfectly worked in mountains area.

Triathlon 2020 by TriPakistan

Registration for next year is already open. To visit tripakistan website click here

Half Marathon 2019 - Kashmir

Some of the popular Half Marathon 2019 are London, Berlin, Barcelona, but running a marathon in Paradise on earth in Kashmir is a totally different experience.

Half Marathon in Kashmir

Kashmir Half Marathon was organized in Bagh Azad Kashmir on 14th July, 2019, with the total elevation gain of 1100 m. Total 14 participants registered for the race. The race started from Shamsi Stadium Bagh at an altitude of 1100m and finished at Sudhan Gali Gate (Bagh - Muzaffarabad Link Road) at an Altitude of 2200m. The road was totally hilly.

The run was a great one because on every 3km we had water stations of Natural Spring Water. Aid stations had fresh fruits from tree branches ready for us to pick and clean and eat.

Natural Spring water was sweat and fresh, it gave refreshing feeling and non of the runner wanted to leave the water station without drinking enough water.

Natural beauty in Bagh Azad Kashmir is also at its peak, where sunlight was hardly visible because of trees in jungle. Though this was the road run but road was surrounded by trees (various kinds including fruits).

I recorded race using Garmin Forerunner 935, it perfectly gave me elevation, distance, temperature and other important information. The data was synchronized to Strava App, and below is Strava activity detail ;

Open Water Swimming in Kashmir

Those who love open water swimming, their travel destination has also swimming plan included. When they reach the destination they look for "open water swimming near me" or "open water swimming events". Most of the times swimmers traveling abroad will keep their swimming gears with them wetsuit, swimming goggles, and garmin watch.

Same is with me, I have previously done open water swimming in London, United States, South Africa and UAE, during my visit to Pakistan I decided to swim in open water.

Zalzal Lake (The Earthquake Lake)

Zalzal Lake in Kashmir is Natural lake formed as a result of earthquake in 2005. This is now most popular tourist destination today, though road infrastructure is not yet suitable for this location and it is not directly connected to the road, that is the reason this untouched lake is still very clean.

Zalzal Lake is located in Pakistani Administered Kashmir Chikar (the town of Muzaffarabad District).

To reach there the best way is to Visit Bagh Azad Kashmir, which is 4 hours drive from Islamabad, the Capital City of Pakistan.

From there you can Sudhan Gali where there are many resorts, hotel and guest houses to stay. Then you can take local tranport or hire a car to reach the Zalzal Lake View Point.

Road Access

I travelled from Bagh to Sudhan gali which is 21 KM and then From Sudhan Gali silk road is good and it hardly takes 40 minutes to reach there. We had Half Marathon Race that started from Bagh to Sudhan Gali, after completing the race we took rest and then moved from Sudhan Gali to Zalzal Lake view point which is 16km , the road is partly damaged with two big land slide areas, but still access to the view point is easy, we drove 4X4, but saloon car is also better choice.

From View point to Zalzal Lake it will take another 20 minutes walk/hike downhill. You can park your car and walk to the Zalzal Lake, there is one Boat and one TUCSHOP, but weather and view is great.

Those who are interested in swimming must make sure that they have enough gears and safety measures before swimming and more than this is your swim, you must know how to swim in Open Water.

Even if you want to use boat make sure you put on life jacket.

Swimming

Zalzal Lake in all over Pakistan is best place for open water swimming, for people who love Water Sports, they must not miss this place.. Long distance swim of (2.5 KM covering complete lake) was organized by Bagh Youth Forum and Pir Panjal Travel and Tours. The lake is beautiful in its kind. I love open water swimming, I swum many places in the world, but experience in Zalzal lake was totally different, water from Natural Springs comes all the times in this lake which keeps the lake water fresh and sweet.

July is usually monsoon, when I did swimming in this lake it was drizzling which made the swim more interesting, water temperature was fine. I must say this is one of the best lakes in the world.

I will share my detailed experience soon in this blog,but below is the strava activity link, where I only recorded warmup swim.

I have recorded this swim using garmin forerunner 935, though there are many other options to chose from garmin like ; garmin vivoactive 3, garmin fenix 5 or garmin fenix 3 but this watch is perfect for the triathlon.

Open Water Swim at Fahal Island

Open water swimming is one of the best sport activity. I always look for open water swimming events near me. Oman is one of the most popular open water swimming destinations because of it's location and water temperature. Sea swim is perfect choice for residents and tourists in Oman.
Every year there are many organized swimming events in Oman, and one of the events is at Fahal Island.

Fahal Island, Oman

Fahal Island is one of the most popular Islands of Oman, it is also called shark island. The island can be clearly seen from Qurum Heights, Qurum Beach, Azaiba, Ghubra, Ras Al Harmra and nearly all the costal area from Muscat.

The distance from PDO RAH Club is almost 4.2km. Many people go for snorkeling there, though Island is very small around 2.5 sqkm but many people visit this every year.
Wavesummit organizes kayak trip to Fahal Island and they also offer snorkerling.

Fahal Swim
This is a challenging 4.2km swim that starts from Fahal Swim and swimmers have to head back to the PDO Club.

The Event RegistrationMy Race Day
My kayak support buddy and I moved to the shore to ensure he leaves for Fahal Island via kayak to reach their before the swim starts. He left and I headed back to the briefing area. Where swimmers were divided in various groups to ride the speed boat to reach the Fahal Island Swim Starting Location. I was in boat # 5 with 9 other swimmers. Below is the timeline;

7:10 - Boat started towards Fahal Island

7:25 - Reach Fahal Islanad

7:35 - Race Started

7:40 - Kayaker located me and joined me within 200 meters.

9:43 - Finished Swim

PDO organizes Annual Fahal Swim every year since 1989 and this year was 30th Edition of Fahal Island Swim.

140 Swimmers (male and female age 10 to 80 years) participated in this swim, every swimmer was joined by a paddler (kayaker) to make sure swimmers reach the destination safely.

Swimmers are asked to register for the event via the an online registration form, they need to look for the kayaker who will remain with the swimmer throughout the swim course, once both are ready and they are required to register, and on confirmation from organizers they are asked to make payment via PDO Club member. All the information regarding race timings, venue, sea condition, directions and race details are usually published on the fahalswimblog.

I reached the PDO Club and parked my car outside in the main parking and called the kayaker who was ready with all his gear. We entered to the club where many swimmers and kayakers were already there. We registered at the registration desk, got our Fahal Swim 30 Years t-Shirt with my race number on my arm.

For most of the swimmers it is not possible to swim the straight line because of various conditions (swimming techniques and current)
I recorded this swim using Garmin Fenix 3, after synchornizing it to strava, below is my swim summary.

Ironman 2019 Muscat, Oman 70.3

Ironman 2019 Muscat, Oman 70.3

1st March 2019 was the Historic event for Oman. The first ever Marathon in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman organized by Ironman. Announcement was done in June 2018, when and it was happiest moment for many triathletes in Oman.

Ironman 2019

Ironman 70.3 Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Ironman 2020 Muscat, Oman will be on 21 Feb 2020 in Beautiful City of Muscat, which is 400 KM from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Ironman Races in Oman

First Triathlon organized by Ironman was an olympic distance triathlon called 5i50 which was launched on 2nd November 2018 where unexpectedly many triathletes participated and event was a great success.

I updated my social media post as;

"1st March 2019. Ready for Ironman 70.3 Oman. BIB#556 First time in Oman. More than 1000 participants from 65 countries. Representing #pakistan aiming peace in #Kashmir.
Live tracker on #Ironman tracker app
Live Coverage on Facebook (#ironmanOman and a Ironman pages)
Race start 6:30 AM
Plan to Finish before 1:00 pm
1.9km swim, 90km Bike, 21km run @ Shatti Qurum Beach."

I specially thank Muhmmed Obaidani together with Ironman team announced that bigger event will take place with full preparation and better facilities will be provided to triatheletes.

Ironman 70.3 where 70.3 means total miles of the race that includes 1.9 KM Swimming, 90KM Cycling and 21KM (Half Marathon) Running that athletes had to complete in 8 hours and 30 minutes with different cutt off for all three events within the race.

Many winners from Oman qualified for the world championship.

First Ever Ironman 70.3 Race

I am Oman Residant and this was first race in Oman and my first Ironman 70.3. My target time was 8 hours but I managed to finish this race in 6 hrs 30 minutes.

The race started with 1.9 KM swim from Intercon beach near Costa Coffee.

Qurum Beach, where we had our bicycles mounted. We took the bikes and headed towards 18th November street and took u turn to use Qurum Heights road, then followed Old Muttrah, Al Bustan, Wadi Kabir, ruwi and then followed Hamriya towards Al Amerat, We continued upto Al Amerat Police station and turned back to Sultan Qaboos Highway, towards Intercontinental Hotel Muscat. Cycling finished at kebab round about, I completed in 3 hours and 25 minutes. Then immediately took my running gears and completed my start my run.

The run was on Qurum Corniche/Bridge 4 laps of 5KM and then ended in Qurum Park. I managed to keep my pace less than 6 minutes per KM and completed my Half Marathon in 2 hours 20 minutes.

This was my first ever Ironman 70.3, and I am very happy that I got the title and medal and completed the race before my target time.

I am waiting for Ironman 70.3 in Muscat 2020 where I will again participate.

Swim finished a Qurum Beach well known kebab round about, I completed my swimming with PB i.e; in 45 minutes.

My plan is to participate in 2021 for Full Ironman. which needs more training....

Muscat Marathon 2019

Muscat Marathon was first organised by Muscat Road Runners in 2012, with 135 competitors in total in first race. I joined MRR in 2014. Since then, the Muscat Marathon has quickly grown in stature with athletes from all over the world traveling to take part.

Al Mouj Muscat Marathon

In 2017, Al Mouj became the official sponsor of Muscat Marathon and the event is now branded as Al Mouj Muscat Marathon. Al Mouj Oman’s premier lifestyle destination in Muscat.

In 2019 and over 8,000 runners from 103 countries took part in the two-day festival of running. The marathon, half marathon and 10K routes were all certified by world-running organisation AIMS, aligning the event with International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) standards. The 5KM Fun Run.

I must say fear is gradually replaced by excitement and a simple desire to see what you can do on the day. I was selected by Muscat Road Runners Team for Pacing 4:15 in Muscat Marathon on 18th Jan 2019. My plan was to run this marathon to maintain my last year PB detail of which is in another blog linked below.

For this marathon my plan was to keep consistent pace till 42nd KM because as a pacer it is a greater responsibility as many marathon runners will depend on me to maintain their pace.

Muscat Marathon Pacer

Marathon started at 6:30 AM and I started pacing for 4:15 kept the same pace until the end and completed the Marathon at 4 Hours 15 Minutes and 2 seconds. I was so excited because I kept maintaining my pace to manage time. I learnt the time management skill in my professional life and applied that in sports and result is here.

Ironman Oman 5150 Triathlon

5150 Version on 2nd November 2019, Muscat is Situated on the Arabian Peninsula, the perfect weather during the month of November attracted many triathlete across world specially from Oman. Being a member of Oman Triathlon Community and Muscat Road Runners, I also registered for Olympic Distance Triathlon "5150 Triathlon Muscat, Oman" , Ironman considered it as warm up event for Ironman 70.3, which I am participating for sure. I will blog that race as well.

Bike and Gear Check in

1st November, was the day to check in the bike to the venue in Qurum (Costa Coffee Paking Area). I took my bike and got it checked before mounting it on the stand. All my gears were provided in the designated place. As a standard practice, Ironman provides 3 bags of 3 colors (Red for Run, Blue for bike) and one plain color where we can put in our street dress. All the bags will be available on designated location. So with bike check in as you can see there are two bags that I have red and blue. Both were placed on the designated area one day before the race day.

The Race Day

Though I had previously done many Olympic distance triathlon, but this was the first race organized by Ironman that I was attending for the first time, my first race and their first event. I reached the venue by 0600 hrs exactly 1 hour before the race start. Made sure that all my gears are ready, bike Tyre pressure and breaks are ok, water bottles are mounted, helmet and other gears are ready. I was with many of my fellow members of Oman Triathlon Club and Muscat Road runners, who were participating in this event. And those who were not participating they were also present there to support us during the race. It

Swimming

Swim started in the calm and clear waters of Qurm Beach in downtown Muscat, started 9 minutes later than the time provided because organizers were waiting for coastal guards to give the green signal. 1, 2, 3.... race started, every swimmer was trying hard to do their PB, kick and punch ... but just for the 1st 100 meters, then everyone disbursed. Though distance should have been 1500m but the placement of buoys remained confusing and most of the swimmers like me did shorter swim distance, as I followed the swimmers in front of me and my swim looked like below;

As a perfect season round off or the start to your 2019 training and racing schedule, 5150 Muscat, Oman offers a memorable race experience to novices and experienced athletes alike

Cycling

I practiced the cycling route many times prior to the race, as the route was announed long ago, a 40km bike route that took us in all the major sights of Muscat the Royal Opera House, Muttrah gate, and the Al Bustan Palace as well as a stretch down the enticingly fast Wadi Al Kabir Road.

Running

The race is rounded off with a 2-lap 10km run around the Royal Opera House and Qurm Beach, shati Al Qruum Bridge, two laps of running was easier as compare to other months. November, was good, temperature during running was between 29 degree to 32 degree Celsius but it was windy. Bridge was crowded with spectators, they were cheering up every running. This gave me good feelings, when I was slowing down volunteers kept on saying, you are doing great you are just approaching to finish line, though it was my first KM but still I felt motivated, and kept running on my average pace. My target was to finish run within 1 hour that I managed to.

I crossed the finish line and got my medal. This was happiest moment for me, as my birthday is in November and I got my birthday gift in form of my 5150 Triathlon medal.

Not attending Boston Marathon

I decided to attend Boston Marathon in 2017 but didn't attend the marathon because of several reasons. Therefore I thought to run a race in Pakistan.

Why not Boston Marathon?

There were several reasons for not attending Boston Marathon, and one of the reasons was I was very late to decide if I have to attend that or not and second reason was my timing. Yes that is true, qualifying time was 3:30 minutes and I am sure that time is not possible for me. Therefore, I had no choice than running Marathon in Pakistan.

Bahria Town Marathon - Karachi Pakistan

Karrachi Marathon was conducted by irunforsmile and

main sponsor were Bahria Town Karachi. Bahria Town helped to organize the event and there were many volunteers who supported this event.

Shamp was the main sponsor who funded heavily for this race.

Pakistani and Foreigner athletes participated in this event.

The route map for the Bahria Town Karachi is below, it almost cover Bahria town Karachi.

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Weekend Cycling Groups in Muscat

What are the most popular cycling routes in Oman?

Flat Routes

18th November Street - Al Mouj R/A

Seeb Corniche

Climb the Hills

Muttrah Loop

Yiti, Bandar Al Khairan

Al Khuwair to Amerat Road

Ruwi - Al Amerat

Cycling Events in Oman

Tour of Oman

OCA Championships

Oman Triathlon Community

Sharqiya Region Cycling Event

Triathlon 2020 by TriPakistan

Half Marathon in Kashmir

Zalzal Lake (The Earthquake Lake)

Road Access

Swimming

Fahal Island, Oman

Ironman 2019

Ironman Races in Oman

First Ever Ironman 70.3 Race

Al Mouj Muscat Marathon

Muscat Marathon Pacer

Bike and Gear Check in

The Race Day

Swimming

Cycling

Running

Why not Boston Marathon?

Bahria Town Marathon - Karachi Pakistan

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