Petra Desert Marathon

From the start line just before the Siq, the route goes through the Siq into the ancient city of Petra and right away you will find yourself surrounded with tombs, caves, and monasteries carved in the mountainsides.

A 2 km uphill section on a paved road leads runners out of the Petra Archaeological Park boundaries and, via the main road, towards the desert on hilly tarmac road.

After 8 kilometres, the route leaves the asphalt road and continues into the desert. Half-marathon runners take the direct way to the river bed gorge “Siq Al Bard,” while marathon runners have to do a loop around the hilltop “Al Musirh.” Leaving Siq al Bard at Little Petra, the route goes back on the tarmac road heading towards the village of Ammarine.

Half-marathon runners continue straight through the village while marathon runners, just before the village, turn left on the road leading to Wadi Araba to do a 8 km back-tracking stretch that will take you past incredible rock formations that only a few tourists visit.

When passing the 30 km mark, full marathon runners find themselves back at Ammarine village and merge again with the half marathon course. From here, the route goes uphill to a mountain ridge for the next 5 kilometres, but the strenuous efforts are rewarded with an astonishing view over most of the marathon route, the mountains covering Petra and on clear days even Israel can be seen. On this mountain ridge the surface becomes gravel for the next 3 km.

The final 4 km is steep downhill running on paved roads towards the finish line.