I honestly must tell you that I had some great moments running in Saudi Arabia. Yup, that’s what todays chat is all about. Running in Saudi… in Riyadh to be more specific. First off: Don’t think if you ran on a hot summer’s day, that you know what hot is. The Saudi weather has those couple of extra degrees and the thing is, the heat, the hot weather last a long long time. Whether you are destined to go there for work, or perhaps as a tourist… you’re your running gear along. Oh maybe you heard or read some negatives stories about this great country… don’t believe all the negative stories, rather get firsthand experience and you will find many like minded people and a country that surprises you. Quite different to the image the media sometimes portrays. But, I just want to share you with my hot running experience in Saudi. Especially because so many people told me it would be impossible to run there, not only due to the heat but also that it’s not part of the tradition. Short trousers are frowned upon, there are hardly any run events etc. Join me as I clear some nonsense and fake news and present you some firsthand accounts of what it’s like. And the friendly runners I met All of them HOT,… Ha Ha. Yes, heat will be a topic throughout this whole podcast. Obviously, because just for starts: what do you guess the average annual temperature is for Riyadh the capital? Come on guess… don’t give me the “I don’t know” … yes I am listening…. Chances are you are wrong. The average high for Riyadh is…. You better hold on to something…. Are you ready: 32 degrees Celsius or 90 Fahrenheit. Average… Now that is impressive. Did you guess correctly? Wow, congrats genius. Well done clever Trevor. Listen, I grew up in South Africa, and there are some Hot places, be it Upington, or Oudtshoorn where I spent my National Service time. I lived in Delhi for some years, in Mexico, so I thought I knew heat, or hot weather. That’s why before I went to Saudi, I didn’t think for a second that I would not be able to run there. But the heat is a different one. In Upington on a Hot summers’ day it can be 34 Celcius or 94 Fahrenheit. But that is Dezember January February. Riyadh boasts with 5 months of Temperature over 100 Fahrenheit temperatures over 45 are a regular site on your iPhone weather app…. And let me be honest, it is a huge difference. Perhaps now as you are listening to it you are thinking “doesn’t sound so much more, does it”? But it is… There is one benefit though… the heat is dry. So for me at least it is much more pleasant than running in the tropics. I am the sort of guy if I see a video about some researcher in the jungle and he is all sweaty, I need to change the channel. Humidity not my thing. Reminds me too much of the time where I had malaria. Yup your run coach thought he’s going to die, and the next day the pain was so bad I wished I would die. Ha Ha. But I digress. Back to Saudi, running and heat.
January 19, 2023