Sunday Octoberber 27th 2024 I ran the Ashgabat Marathon in Turkmenistan. Find below my full race coverage from this marathon and a few tourist impressions from the white city of Ashgabat.
Ashgabat
Ashgabat is the capital of Turkmenistan and a city build in white marble! I missed the city tour Saturday (flight delay from Copenhagen) but managed Sunday to see the Old Nisa, the Turkmenbashy Ruhy Mosque and the Turkmen State Circus, including the fameous horses of Turkmenistan. The report carries, though, a number of pictures from prominent landmarks in Ashgabat, kindly lend to me by the other runners. We can say for sure: you will not find anything like Ashgabat anywhere in the world! All the cars are white and the impressively well-gardened streets and sights are – empty!
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Ashgabat Marathon 2024
This is from my Facebook post on the topic: “So, my trip was destroyed by a plane delay Friday night, so I missed the whole first day in the “white city”, Ashgabat. Boarded on the evening plane then from Istanbul Saturday, landing 03.00 AM local time in Adhgabat, then 1.5 hours very slow visa procedure, at the hotel at 05.00 AM Sunday morning, 22 hours later than planned. The marathon started Sunday at 06.00 AM (!!!). I somehow managed to put a mental approach together, perhaps in defiance of all the troubles, and let the body go. Losing 15 mins underway to toilet procedures, I booked 5.06 on a route measured a tad long, 43,7 km on my Garmin.”
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Gates of Hell 10K
Monday, the day after the marathon, we drove 274 km out of Ashgabat to run a 10K race at the Gates of Hell, the Darvaza gas crater that puts up a spectacular sight at night time, looking like Mordor from the Lords of the Rings. It was great fun to run in the desert sand and a truly unique experience to see the crater glowing up in the dark.
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See or relive the Turkmenistan Challenge 2024 here (and in Turkmen and Russian)
