marathonoman | IAN CORLESS

Stage 3 of the Oman Desert Marathon followed a long stage 2 of 55-km. For perspective, Mohamed won the stage in 5-hours 11-minutes, while the last runner came in close to the midnight cut-off. When you consider the 06:30am start, that is a long day on the feet.

Corina Sommer recovering before stage 3©iancorless

Morning of stage 3 was rest in camp and the scheduled 3 start times would commence at midday, followed by 2pm and the final wave of top-12 runner’s departing at 4pm. Ahead 42km with all runner’s spending time in some darkness before arriving at the finish.

With a flat section to start the day, a small and beautiful dune section, and then a relatively flat run in to the line, on paper, stage 3 was by ODM standards an easy one.

If Rachid had agreed with his brother that victory was Mohamed’s to take, Rachid did not run the last stage without a fight. Actually, the contrary, he seemed to be pushing hard and looking for the advantage.

Mohamed followed at all times looked relax.

The duo exchanged the lead at multiple times and it was during darkness that Mohamed took the lead and finished strongly ahead of his brother 3:23 to 3:40 elapsed respectively, the 2023 Oman Desert Marathon is now almost certainly his!

Behind Saleh Alsaidi once again ran a very strong stage, he never came close to the Moroccan’s but his podium place is secure.

Corina and Aziza head-to-head ©iancorless

If Aziza El Amrany thought stage 3 would be an easy one, she would need to think again… Corina Sommer had the bit between her teeth and the duo pushed a hard pace. Just before CP1 Aziza got a gap, was the writing on the wall?

No! Corina fought back, caught and passed her and then opened up her own lead. As darkness came, the lead extended and it was a nail-biter to the line, Corina crossing in 4:21:09.

The clock ticked, Aziza was losing her huge lead, eventually she came and crossed in 4:36:06. Now Corina is just 10-minutes behind with one stage to go… Is it possible to get back that time in ‘just’ 22km?

Aziza Raji was off-the-pace today and finished 3rd.

Mohamed El Morabity 3:23:30
Rachid El Morabity 3:40:03
Saleh Alsaidi 3:41:21

And into the darkness they went… ©iancorless

Corina Sommer (SUI) 4:21:09
Aziza El Amrany 4:36:06
Aziza Raji 4:53:15

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It’s countdown time to the 2023 Oman Desert Marathon.

Now in its 8th edition, the Oman Desert Marathon will take place January 21^st to 24^th. A self-sufficient race, the race takes place over 4-stages with a total distance of 165-kms.

January offers excellent conditions for a desert adventure, with highs anticipated and 25-degrees and lows of 17-degrees.

A unique race, the route provides participants the opportunity to explore and discover untouched sands and the highest dunes of Oman while running 47, 55, 42 and 21km.

“The OMD, changed my perspective on ultra-marathon running for the better. The desert is magical and beautiful, but will test you mentally and physically to your limit, but you will be a better person from it. The OMD event should be on every runner’s calendar.” – Adam May.

Arrival in Oman will be on January 20^th with transfers to Al Jawharat Resort in Bidiyah. The afternoon will taken up with admin protocols and a race dinner.

Stage 1 – 47km
Satge 2 – 55km
Stage 3 – 42km
Stage 4 – 21km

Daily start times fluctuate and interestingly, Stage 3 has three starts, 1200, 1400 and 1600.

Stage 4 has an 0800 start with the race concluded by 1300 at the Al Jawharat Resort in Bidiyah resort. In the evening, an award ceremony and prize giving will take place.

The Runner’s

While Omani runner’s will make up the majority of the field, there are participants from Spain, France, Ukraine, Italy, Germany, Poland, Britain, Belgium, Switzerland and not surprisingly, Morocco will have the main contenders for overall victory.

King of the desert, Rachid El Morabity, 9x winner of the Marathon des Sables will once again lead the field and he is without doubt, the hot favourite for overall victory.

Rachid’s brother, Mohammed, will be his main contender and should Rachid have a bad day, his brother will be able to pounce.

For the women, desert specialist, Aziz Raji, also a winner of Marathon des Sables, will be the main protagonist not only for the female victory, but quite possibly, a highly-ranked overall placing.

How to follow:

Daily reports and images will be issued on this website (connection allowing) each evening and a full and detailed race summary will follow after January 24^th. On IG, @iancorlessphotography and @marathonoman