Walking along the Giza Plateau - "Pyramids Half Marathon"

Egypt mainly attracts modern tourists with beautiful beaches, a rich and interesting history. In my case, these were cross-country running starts. Since he had been planning to visit Egypt for a long time, one night he decided to look for interesting marathons in his territory. On the Internet, four interesting half marathons were held in the country of Pharaohs.

In order to discover the land of Pharaohs, he decided to opt for a half marathon under the rather interesting name: “Pyramids Half Marathon“. The Pyramids Half Marathon half marathon has interested me mainly in its route, as it runs through the ancient Egyptian necropolis, located on the Giza Plateau and near the most famous monuments of Ancient Egypt, namely the Pyramids complex (which includes the Pyramids of Cheops, Heferen and Mykerin). In addition, the trip should have been quite interesting and exciting, as it made it possible to get acquainted with the capital of Egypt - Cairo and see what it is like to say not tourist Egypt.

Registration

It is quite easy to register for the "Pyramids Half Marathon" through the official website of the half marathon: pyramidshalfmarathon.com. There are 3 distances available for the Pyramids Half Marathon: the 21 km main and the 10 and 6 satellite satellites. The entry fee for the "Pyramids Half Marathon" is quite small and is in local currency - EGP 300, which is about $ 20. After you have selected the distance, you have registered for the race itself and will pay it to you in the mail you will receive an acknowledgment of payment for the race. As for the basic information about the “Pyramids Half Marathon” half marathon, its organizers start sending an e-mail about two weeks before the start of the half marathon.

Road

He decided to transfer from Cairo to Kyiv with a transfer to Istanbul. Upon arrival at Cairo airport, you first need to buy a visa, which costs $ 25 and then passes passport control. Having received a stamp in my passport, I immediately went in search of a transport that would take me to my place of residence.

The day after his arrival in Cairo, he began his journey to the Sport Expo to pick up his starting number for the half marathon Pyramids Half Marathon. The Sport Expo was located at the Greek Campus, near Tahrir Square. Therefore, my morning started off quite interesting, namely from a cognitive walk through the streets of Cairo.

What you are looking for at Sport Expo and disallow your start number, you need to provide a list of QR codes and find out what you should not let go.

The Sport Expo itself is quite small and consists of several stands with sports equipment and information on the half marathon Pyramids Half Marathon. So staying there for a long time is unlikely to work.

You can only get your starter pack at the Sport Expo, which lasts two days before the half marathon starts. The Pyramids Half Marathon half-marathon starter pack consists of a half-marathon brochure, start number, t-shirt, backpack, participant bracelet and entry pass on the Giza Plateau.

Run

The "Pyramids Half Marathon" route runs through the asphalted territory of the Giza Plateau and consists of one circle. Since the location of the half marathon is desert and Egypt is hot enough, the start will start at 8 am. In addition, the start of the half marathon and the satellite races are common. Start and finish are in different places.

In order to get to the territory of the Giza Plateau, where the starting point of the half marathon "Pyramids Half Marathon" is located, you need to present a ticket, without it you will not be allowed there. Race participants start missing at 6:30 am and fans at 7:00 am.

The launch of the Pyramids Half Marathon begins, like any other race from the organizers' opening statement, followed by a start and a race start. The first 300 meters of the half marathon route passes in a straight line, after which a gentle climb uphill begins. After you have overcome the first climb in front of the participants of the half marathon “Pyramids Half Marathon” there are quite beautiful views on one side of this panorama of the city of Cairo, and on the other side, you can see the silhouettes of the pyramids of Cheops and Khefren.

After the participants admire the scenery that surrounds them, they will go downhill. For participants of a half marathon, it is especially not necessary to rejoice in it, as soon as they go down into the valley their turn is expected and they run in the opposite direction.

The first 7 kilometers of the Pyramids Half Marathon are quite specific, the first start is common for three distances (21, 10 and 6 kilometers), so the first kilometers are quite difficult to overcome as a large number of participants with different tempo start at once. before that, different distances run. In addition, there are two additional turns on this segment of the track for distances of 6 and 10 kilometers, just as the first kilometers of all three races have the same route.

There is a pretty good observation deck overlooking the Giza Pyramid at 6 kilometers, so many participants stop there and take pictures.

After that, the participants of the half marathon expect to say so a straight line, which runs anywhere from 7 to 8 kilometers.

Starting from 9 km to 13 km the participants of the half marathon are expecting another long one, so to speak, will descend into the next valley. The peculiarity of this segment of the half-marathon “Pyramids Half Marathon” is that a pretty panorama of Cairo opens to the participants of the half-marathon.

At about a kilometer 13 participants of the half marathon expect another turn and run in the opposite direction, so approximately a segment of a half marathon from 14 to 20 kilometers can be said lift.

The last kilometers of the half marathon Pyramids Half Marathon run along the finish line, at the end of which the participants of the half marathon expect a long-awaited finish, rest and the opportunity to enjoy the panorama of the Egyptian pyramids and to walk around these ancient stone structures.

Impression

The "Pyramids Half Marathon" left quite a positive impression, mainly due to the rather interesting location on which it was held, namely the Giza Plateau.

The Pyramids Half Marathon half-marathon route was hilly with lots of gentle slopes and climbs.

The very organization of the half marathon “Pyramids Half Marathon” was above average. There are many hydration points (water, isotonic, and fruits) along the route, the marathon route is well-marked and covers almost the entire territory of the Giza Plateau; they were not allocated.